the CGI was never intended to be completely realistic. In keeping with the comic book theme, the big green guy was made to look somewhat cartoony.
Could people please stop complaining about movie CGI and how fantasy characters must look "real". What is "real" when the character does not exist and has not existed in any form outside of COMIC books? Comic characters don't look even remotely real, heck animation doesn't even look or move completely real. The simple concept behind most comic characters is not even close to real, yet somehow in the movies they are supposed to LOOK and ACT real?
The reason everyone has problems with human-like characters done in CGI is that you keep trying to force those characters to fit your own model of how a human looks and moves. This is also why aliens and monsters look great with CGI, because you don't have any particular model in your head about how they should look and move.
It was intended to have a surreal look. Hulk was never meant to look completely real in his big green guy form. It is kind of an homage to the fact that he is a comic character.
MiniDisc really wasn't a total failure. It just never caught on in countries were CD's were inexpensive(ie. America). In Japan, miniDisc did quite well, and it is popular among many music enthusiasts in America.
that sure would help my coordination during marathon games of beer die. Olyimpic beer die is just so hard when you are drunk. two livers = more drinking before intoxication = more beer die championships!
Well thought out, and I agree with many of the things you say.
But I have one problem, in all the time it took for this super advanced species to get where it is, how did it not send off any signals about itself. See, even if we as humans ever get to that point, we can't take back all those years of sending transmissions into space. So how would another species do it? This of course ignores the often forgotten fact that in order to send signals long distances, even in space, lots of energy is needed. lots of energy.
Also, how can we assume that all cultures would be as aggressive as ours. I understand that most of our technological advancement is a result of our wars against ourselves, but whose to say it has to be that way. Primitive should not necesarily mean warlike or aggressive. Technological evolution may go slower in a non-aggressive society, but it should still progress. Therefore, giving access to more advanced technology to a peaceful, primitive society may not be as detrimental(ignore cultural aspects of such an occurance).
but maybe it will also divide us even further. Governments could clamour for weapons in order to "protect" its citizens. Fights among religions could break out as people try to deal with the ramifications of thousands of years of beliefs that were not wholly true. While I would like to believe that it would bring us together as a planet. I think on a basic level humans are both social creatures and selfish. We barely seem to be able to strike what little social balances that we have.
Somehow I think something as monemental as a signal from ET, would have equal power to break us apart as it does bring us together.
Well with the number of PS2's that have sold so far worldwide, I guess Sony thinks the demand for Cell will be even bigger. I know Cell won't be in the PS3, but since it is a scalar architecture it can be placed in anything from cell phones to video game machines to computers. This makes the market for Cell even larger than that of a Pentium or PowerPC or The Emotion Engine in PS2.
Or maybe IBM just plans on using their IT to help design the Cell, then they can make royalties off any Cell chips produced and sold by both Toshiba and Sony. I would think that is what IBM would like, saves their fab plants for other things.
I always got the impression that Sony wanted to go the integrated home electronics route way before MS entered the game. I mean the original PS was always able to play music CD's if i recall correctly. Then PS2 was in developement before MS ever got in the video game business. So many of its capabilities have been in since the begining I am sure.
Plus, Sony would love to be able to cheaply manufacture and sell at their usually high markups, one box that can be a PVR(whose abilities they would control), dvd/cd player, video game system, and maybe even throw in a Home theater capability. This seems to be both Sony and MS's ultimate goal, along with subscription services for games and other online activities.
i don't think microsoft will wait until 2007 to release Xbox2. Nor will nintendo wait that long to replace the gamecube. I would say that cell will not be in the PS3. More likely sony will put say 2 emotion chips in the same box and in a way double the processing power of the current PS2. this would be a good stop gap before the Cell processor is ready.
In a way, I was saying the the whole awards process is flawed(not that I have a better solution though). Merely, that unless we award everyone, there is always someone who complains. but who wants that kind of a situation, it would be like first grade art class. I think we are grown up enough to accept the fact that some peoples art is better than others.
As for genre descrimination, I think that would be taken care of somewhat if awards were done in a similar fashion to dog shows. each genre as its awards(with only people familiar with or working in the genre voting), then the winners from each genre could be stacked up against each other(everyone would vote here) for a 'Best In Show' style finish. it might take longer, and it certainly isn't perfect but it is a start.
As for books, like I said I don't read much. I do understand that books are a heavy time investment and that you don't want to read a crap novel as much as you watch crap movies(and man there are a lot). But isn't that what book clubs and critics(those you trust) are for? Like I said before, no system is perfect though.
The emmys are one big jerk-off session. The oscars are getting there. Who ever heard of giving someone an award because they got shafted the last time, because the previous winner was shafted the time before that? I mean wtf? Atleast the Hugo and nebular seem to award who deserves it this year, not someone who should have one it for previous work. Those awards are called Lifetime Achievement awards, and they are much nicer(IMO) than a single performance award.
why do billions of people around the world believe in God? and give lots of money to their churchs/mosques/sinagogs(sp?)? belief in something greater than themselves. it is a need that lots of people seem to have. no one wants to think that we are alone. so if not god, then ET is who you look for.
it all boils down to thinking that humans are special, and why are we special. if you are in the God camp, then most likely you think humans are unique in all the universe. the ET camp says we are not unique, but that we have brothers in space on distant worlds.
as for the remote chance, well it is a remote chance that you will win the lottery, but people still play. a remote chance that you will get SARS, but people are still up in a panic. for many the odds don't matter, it is the possibilities that do.
I don't think that is a question that will ever truely be answered unless one of two things happens. 1) god appears to everyone on earth and says that we are the only ones in the universe or 2) an alien species makes contact with the entire planet.
But, if I had to actually answer I would say for me it wouldn't change my beliefs unless example 1) above occured. Of course everyone reacts differently, so I suppose it would change some peoples outlook on the world.
For me the question has always been, why do humans need God to feel important or wanted as a group? and for that matter, why do humans need religion to form a moral belief system? But thats getting way off topic.
air breathing fuel cells don't need to be recharged that often. of course they don't exactly exist in the consumer market, yet. but mark my words, one day...
it is like that at a lot of retail stores. the reason being is that corporate knows that the retail worker monkeys would squeel the news to sites like this.
i don't work for an apple store, but i do work for circuit city and thats how they work.
well by your thinking, the aliens would really land in the oceans and we'd be partying it up 'Abyss' style with them. International waters means no drinking laws, woo hoo! of course, this is all contingent on there being aliens and that they are peaceful, party animals.
huh, what Wow signal. i want to hear it. is it anything like those annoying wow gossiple compilation cd's? cause if it is, i don't want to hear it then.
i think they plan on looking at more than just the planets on their A-list. it seems to me that they are looking for planets like our own first, then moving on to other possibilities.
is it the earth and alpha cetauri or is it the sun and alpha centauri. i know that it really doens't matter in the end, but i am curious. it would seem dumb to me to measure it from the earth, but hey i am just an alcoholic... i mean college student.
or do these sci-fi and fantasy awards seem like people in these sectors of entertainment simply jerking each other off, because the long standing awards groups don't give them the recognition they feel they deserve.
Don't get me wrong, i love sci-fi and fantasy. But some of the shows up for awards in the hugos, don't deserve any type of nomination or recognition. As for the nebula awards, I don't get to read much(I am too lazy, and I grew up in america so I don't know how to read), but shouldn't critical and/or monetary success be enough. I mean if people buy your book or a critic whose opinion you value says it is good, do you really need an official award or nomination saying it is a good piece of writing?
I always thought that a woman's social skills(i know this is a generalization, but in some ways they do work for a general population) would make her a good manager or manager type person. Coordination tasks need someone who can communicate with many different people and the ability to juggle those different tasks in their head. So it would seem to me atleast that women would make better managers, while men better drones/workers.
But then again I like women, always have. Thats just me and my thoughts on the matter. And for the record, I am a man.
I will concede that beirut(the proper name, I refuse to recognise beer pong) is a fun and exciting game. But, on a drink for drink basis and athletic abilities needed to play(not just hand eye coordination, but diving, catching, etc.) beer die beats beirut hands down. Atleast the rules my friends and i play by. Beirut is a game that can be enjoyed by all, including girls. Beer die is a game for the true hardcore enthusiast.
A beirut national championship that turely is sweet. I wish I had known about it sooner, maybe I could have gotten a team together. But my friends and I, we have multiple beer die tourneys a year with tropheys and green jackets(masters) as prizes. We have a two regular seasons, fall and spring, and we keep individual and team stats. We have spread our "league" play from Cleveland, OH to Lexington, KY to New York, NY. Not quite national, but for a bunch of lazy drunken private-college kids I think thats pretty good.
interesting thought, especially since the corps are the ones with all the money(money is power) now, when back in the day it was the tyrants that had all the money. never thought of it that way.
i don't think putting a human face or non-human face on it makes any difference as to how fast things progress. things like this always seem to start slow as your being swept up in it, but next thing you know all your previous freedoms are gone. leaving you to look back and ask how did this happen so fast?
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the CGI was never intended to be completely realistic. In keeping with the comic book theme, the big green guy was made to look somewhat cartoony.
Could people please stop complaining about movie CGI and how fantasy characters must look "real". What is "real" when the character does not exist and has not existed in any form outside of COMIC books? Comic characters don't look even remotely real, heck animation doesn't even look or move completely real. The simple concept behind most comic characters is not even close to real, yet somehow in the movies they are supposed to LOOK and ACT real?
The reason everyone has problems with human-like characters done in CGI is that you keep trying to force those characters to fit your own model of how a human looks and moves. This is also why aliens and monsters look great with CGI, because you don't have any particular model in your head about how they should look and move.
It was intended to have a surreal look. Hulk was never meant to look completely real in his big green guy form. It is kind of an homage to the fact that he is a comic character.
huh, Austin...I think you have the wrong movie series.
Agreed. I have been a... huge fan since she was in 'Dark City'.
MiniDisc really wasn't a total failure. It just never caught on in countries were CD's were inexpensive(ie. America). In Japan, miniDisc did quite well, and it is popular among many music enthusiasts in America.
that sure would help my coordination during marathon games of beer die. Olyimpic beer die is just so hard when you are drunk. two livers = more drinking before intoxication = more beer die championships!
Well thought out, and I agree with many of the things you say.
But I have one problem, in all the time it took for this super advanced species to get where it is, how did it not send off any signals about itself. See, even if we as humans ever get to that point, we can't take back all those years of sending transmissions into space. So how would another species do it? This of course ignores the often forgotten fact that in order to send signals long distances, even in space, lots of energy is needed. lots of energy.
Also, how can we assume that all cultures would be as aggressive as ours. I understand that most of our technological advancement is a result of our wars against ourselves, but whose to say it has to be that way. Primitive should not necesarily mean warlike or aggressive. Technological evolution may go slower in a non-aggressive society, but it should still progress. Therefore, giving access to more advanced technology to a peaceful, primitive society may not be as detrimental(ignore cultural aspects of such an occurance).
but maybe it will also divide us even further. Governments could clamour for weapons in order to "protect" its citizens. Fights among religions could break out as people try to deal with the ramifications of thousands of years of beliefs that were not wholly true.
While I would like to believe that it would bring us together as a planet. I think on a basic level humans are both social creatures and selfish. We barely seem to be able to strike what little social balances that we have.
Somehow I think something as monemental as a signal from ET, would have equal power to break us apart as it does bring us together.
Well with the number of PS2's that have sold so far worldwide, I guess Sony thinks the demand for Cell will be even bigger. I know Cell won't be in the PS3, but since it is a scalar architecture it can be placed in anything from cell phones to video game machines to computers. This makes the market for Cell even larger than that of a Pentium or PowerPC or The Emotion Engine in PS2.
Or maybe IBM just plans on using their IT to help design the Cell, then they can make royalties off any Cell chips produced and sold by both Toshiba and Sony. I would think that is what IBM would like, saves their fab plants for other things.
I always got the impression that Sony wanted to go the integrated home electronics route way before MS entered the game. I mean the original PS was always able to play music CD's if i recall correctly. Then PS2 was in developement before MS ever got in the video game business. So many of its capabilities have been in since the begining I am sure.
Plus, Sony would love to be able to cheaply manufacture and sell at their usually high markups, one box that can be a PVR(whose abilities they would control), dvd/cd player, video game system, and maybe even throw in a Home theater capability. This seems to be both Sony and MS's ultimate goal, along with subscription services for games and other online activities.
i don't think microsoft will wait until 2007 to release Xbox2. Nor will nintendo wait that long to replace the gamecube. I would say that cell will not be in the PS3. More likely sony will put say 2 emotion chips in the same box and in a way double the processing power of the current PS2. this would be a good stop gap before the Cell processor is ready.
In a way, I was saying the the whole awards process is flawed(not that I have a better solution though). Merely, that unless we award everyone, there is always someone who complains. but who wants that kind of a situation, it would be like first grade art class. I think we are grown up enough to accept the fact that some peoples art is better than others.
As for genre descrimination, I think that would be taken care of somewhat if awards were done in a similar fashion to dog shows. each genre as its awards(with only people familiar with or working in the genre voting), then the winners from each genre could be stacked up against each other(everyone would vote here) for a 'Best In Show' style finish. it might take longer, and it certainly isn't perfect but it is a start.
As for books, like I said I don't read much. I do understand that books are a heavy time investment and that you don't want to read a crap novel as much as you watch crap movies(and man there are a lot). But isn't that what book clubs and critics(those you trust) are for? Like I said before, no system is perfect though.
The emmys are one big jerk-off session. The oscars are getting there. Who ever heard of giving someone an award because they got shafted the last time, because the previous winner was shafted the time before that? I mean wtf? Atleast the Hugo and nebular seem to award who deserves it this year, not someone who should have one it for previous work. Those awards are called Lifetime Achievement awards, and they are much nicer(IMO) than a single performance award.
why do billions of people around the world believe in God? and give lots of money to their churchs/mosques/sinagogs(sp?)? belief in something greater than themselves. it is a need that lots of people seem to have. no one wants to think that we are alone. so if not god, then ET is who you look for.
it all boils down to thinking that humans are special, and why are we special. if you are in the God camp, then most likely you think humans are unique in all the universe. the ET camp says we are not unique, but that we have brothers in space on distant worlds.
as for the remote chance, well it is a remote chance that you will win the lottery, but people still play. a remote chance that you will get SARS, but people are still up in a panic. for many the odds don't matter, it is the possibilities that do.
I don't think that is a question that will ever truely be answered unless one of two things happens. 1) god appears to everyone on earth and says that we are the only ones in the universe or 2) an alien species makes contact with the entire planet.
But, if I had to actually answer I would say for me it wouldn't change my beliefs unless example 1) above occured. Of course everyone reacts differently, so I suppose it would change some peoples outlook on the world.
For me the question has always been, why do humans need God to feel important or wanted as a group? and for that matter, why do humans need religion to form a moral belief system? But thats getting way off topic.
air breathing fuel cells don't need to be recharged that often. of course they don't exactly exist in the consumer market, yet. but mark my words, one day...
it is like that at a lot of retail stores. the reason being is that corporate knows that the retail worker monkeys would squeel the news to sites like this.
i don't work for an apple store, but i do work for circuit city and thats how they work.
well by your thinking, the aliens would really land in the oceans and we'd be partying it up 'Abyss' style with them. International waters means no drinking laws, woo hoo! of course, this is all contingent on there being aliens and that they are peaceful, party animals.
i would even be willing to teach them beer die.
huh, what Wow signal. i want to hear it. is it anything like those annoying wow gossiple compilation cd's? cause if it is, i don't want to hear it then.
i think they plan on looking at more than just the planets on their A-list. it seems to me that they are looking for planets like our own first, then moving on to other possibilities.
is it the earth and alpha cetauri or is it the sun and alpha centauri. i know that it really doens't matter in the end, but i am curious. it would seem dumb to me to measure it from the earth, but hey i am just an alcoholic... i mean college student.
or do these sci-fi and fantasy awards seem like people in these sectors of entertainment simply jerking each other off, because the long standing awards groups don't give them the recognition they feel they deserve.
Don't get me wrong, i love sci-fi and fantasy. But some of the shows up for awards in the hugos, don't deserve any type of nomination or recognition. As for the nebula awards, I don't get to read much(I am too lazy, and I grew up in america so I don't know how to read), but shouldn't critical and/or monetary success be enough. I mean if people buy your book or a critic whose opinion you value says it is good, do you really need an official award or nomination saying it is a good piece of writing?
I always thought that a woman's social skills(i know this is a generalization, but in some ways they do work for a general population) would make her a good manager or manager type person. Coordination tasks need someone who can communicate with many different people and the ability to juggle those different tasks in their head. So it would seem to me atleast that women would make better managers, while men better drones/workers.
But then again I like women, always have. Thats just me and my thoughts on the matter. And for the record, I am a man.
I will concede that beirut(the proper name, I refuse to recognise beer pong) is a fun and exciting game. But, on a drink for drink basis and athletic abilities needed to play(not just hand eye coordination, but diving, catching, etc.) beer die beats beirut hands down. Atleast the rules my friends and i play by. Beirut is a game that can be enjoyed by all, including girls. Beer die is a game for the true hardcore enthusiast.
A beirut national championship that turely is sweet. I wish I had known about it sooner, maybe I could have gotten a team together. But my friends and I, we have multiple beer die tourneys a year with tropheys and green jackets(masters) as prizes. We have a two regular seasons, fall and spring, and we keep individual and team stats. We have spread our "league" play from Cleveland, OH to Lexington, KY to New York, NY. Not quite national, but for a bunch of lazy drunken private-college kids I think thats pretty good.
Beer die isn't just a game, it is a way of life.
interesting thought, especially since the corps are the ones with all the money(money is power) now, when back in the day it was the tyrants that had all the money. never thought of it that way.
i don't think putting a human face or non-human face on it makes any difference as to how fast things progress. things like this always seem to start slow as your being swept up in it, but next thing you know all your previous freedoms are gone. leaving you to look back and ask how did this happen so fast?