I was going to criticize his lack of formal training, then found out he had taught at my alma mater. So if I criticize his lack of education I inadvertently denigrate the quality of my education.
It's close enough that it's obvious that it was heavily inspired by Star Wars, and coupled with the fact that it's not really that good a film, plus the close release date to the Star Wars movies means that one can easily make the argument that it's a ripoff.
I find your comment about 2001 and ST:TMP a little bizarre. First of all, you shouldn't enclose "clone" in quotation marks, because it gives the impression that I used that word, which I didn't. Secondly, have you actually seen both of them? The cinematography, the mood, even the sound design is incredibly similar to 2001, except it's not quite as good because Kubrick didn't direct it. It's still a good movie, I think, but you're definitely taking the minority view if you can't see the heavy borrowing from 2001. Go to rottentomatoes and look up the movie's reviews; the first three that come up compare it to 2001, and most of the others I quickly glanced at did the same. Hell I just found a review (after I wrote the previous few lines) that uses "heavily borrowed" too.
As I write this, there's no mention of this on Sun's website -- neither confirmation nor denial. What's going on?"
Are you serious?! Sun isn't posting their future strategies on a publicly accessible website?!?!? THAT'S INSANE!!
Re:Joe Sixpack is looking for "useful life"
on
Less Might Be More
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· Score: 2, Interesting
In the early 90s, when everyone started to have a computer, you could tell who the REAL geeks were because they were running slow, ancient machines held together with glue and rubber bands. If you had a shiny new 486 you were a newbie; if you had a 16 mhz XT you had some geek cred.
The Last Starfighter was released a few years after Star Wars; it seems specifically calculated to capitalize off the Star Wars success. Or do you seriously think they would have made the movie if Star Wars had never been released?
Beyond that the basic story is the same for both--annoying rural teenage kid joins the space force to fight the evil overlord. It goes beyond "they both have spaceships"
Movies do steal elements from each other, you know. In fact, look at the movie you brought up, 2001. It had it's own clone following a few years later--it was called Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Well it did have a lot more depth than the 1940's serials. And actually I think that while Lucas intended it (and the Indiana Jones series) as an homage they both were a lot better than anything he was emulating. For example, converting rather than killing the evil overlord, the pseudo-Zen aspects of the jedi, Han Solo shooting first (damn you Lucas), a competent female, and the political complexity.
By Star Wars ripoff I meant that it seemed intentionally produced and marketed to capitalize on Star Wars' success, and the small-town boy makes good as space ace was the most obvious aspect of that. Or do you seriously think that movie would have been made if Star Wars hadn't hit it big?
It's not just time and expense, the assumption (legal fiction though it usually is) is that if you plead guilty you're taking responsibility for your actions, and therefore have already begun the rehabilitation process.
What I didn't get is how the guy in the story got death if he pleaded, but I forced myself to read the article and discovered, surprise, surprise, the story didn't get it completely right. The other guy had pled guilty to carjacking and kidnapping, but had insisted that he hadn't killed the girl.
It's a cop-out. When he says "work" he really just means "will suggest to private parties". Is he going to sell government land at a lower price to conservation groups than he would to private investors? Of course not, the free market is the bestest thing in the world according to these guys.
I've never understood people's awe over Id. They don't make very good games. I mean, Doom was very, very good, but every game they've made so far has been a retread of it. And before anyone starts whining about how they make great engines, and let other people use them to make great games, shut the hell up. They made the game, they marketed it, they released it, they sure as hell can be judged on it.
Are you kidding? Id is probably the most mainstream FPS maker out there. Hell, it's probably the only FPS franchise that non-gamers have even heard of.
then they're marked as a Target Which Pays and more extortion demands come in from other crooks.
How would they be marked? It's not like they're getting the front page of Online Blackmailer Magazine. If it's done quietly then the information doesn't go public, and contrary to popular belief there isn't some "underworld" where criminals stay in constant communication with each other.
The volume of nuclear waste is very very small compared to the size of the planet (very small).
...Unless we start building all the nuclear power plants that pro-nuke people advocate, in which case the waste will get much bigger. The temporary storage sites are filled to overflowing, Yucca Mountain is years away from operation, and people here constantly urge that we should just build a bunch of new plants. It boggles the mind.
Besides which, in terms of volume, one cubic meter of waste can contaminate a vast amount of area if it gets into the groundwater. You can't just look at volume, you also have to look at toxicity.
Slashdot Mirror
I was going to criticize his lack of formal training, then found out he had taught at my alma mater. So if I criticize his lack of education I inadvertently denigrate the quality of my education.
Or use google, and never click on the ads. Hurts them even worse than not using them at all.
Bah, fine, what were XTs then, 6 mhz? 8? Wait, ATs were 8, right? I can't remember, it's too far back.
Which is why reputable sources are better than wikipedia.
It's close enough that it's obvious that it was heavily inspired by Star Wars, and coupled with the fact that it's not really that good a film, plus the close release date to the Star Wars movies means that one can easily make the argument that it's a ripoff.
I find your comment about 2001 and ST:TMP a little bizarre. First of all, you shouldn't enclose "clone" in quotation marks, because it gives the impression that I used that word, which I didn't. Secondly, have you actually seen both of them? The cinematography, the mood, even the sound design is incredibly similar to 2001, except it's not quite as good because Kubrick didn't direct it. It's still a good movie, I think, but you're definitely taking the minority view if you can't see the heavy borrowing from 2001. Go to rottentomatoes and look up the movie's reviews; the first three that come up compare it to 2001, and most of the others I quickly glanced at did the same. Hell I just found a review (after I wrote the previous few lines) that uses "heavily borrowed" too.
As I write this, there's no mention of this on Sun's website -- neither confirmation nor denial. What's going on?"
Are you serious?! Sun isn't posting their future strategies on a publicly accessible website?!?!? THAT'S INSANE!!
In the early 90s, when everyone started to have a computer, you could tell who the REAL geeks were because they were running slow, ancient machines held together with glue and rubber bands. If you had a shiny new 486 you were a newbie; if you had a 16 mhz XT you had some geek cred.
...and that's why I stay away from Star Wars novelizations.
The Last Starfighter was released a few years after Star Wars; it seems specifically calculated to capitalize off the Star Wars success. Or do you seriously think they would have made the movie if Star Wars had never been released?
Beyond that the basic story is the same for both--annoying rural teenage kid joins the space force to fight the evil overlord. It goes beyond "they both have spaceships"
Movies do steal elements from each other, you know. In fact, look at the movie you brought up, 2001. It had it's own clone following a few years later--it was called Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Well it did have a lot more depth than the 1940's serials. And actually I think that while Lucas intended it (and the Indiana Jones series) as an homage they both were a lot better than anything he was emulating. For example, converting rather than killing the evil overlord, the pseudo-Zen aspects of the jedi, Han Solo shooting first (damn you Lucas), a competent female, and the political complexity.
By Star Wars ripoff I meant that it seemed intentionally produced and marketed to capitalize on Star Wars' success, and the small-town boy makes good as space ace was the most obvious aspect of that. Or do you seriously think that movie would have been made if Star Wars hadn't hit it big?
Like jetpacks!
It's not just time and expense, the assumption (legal fiction though it usually is) is that if you plead guilty you're taking responsibility for your actions, and therefore have already begun the rehabilitation process.
What I didn't get is how the guy in the story got death if he pleaded, but I forced myself to read the article and discovered, surprise, surprise, the story didn't get it completely right. The other guy had pled guilty to carjacking and kidnapping, but had insisted that he hadn't killed the girl.
But none of you guys have the guts to actually "defend" yourselves from the government.
I love 2001, probably more then any other movie (maybe bladerunner...)
Ahhhh, a slashdotter with actual good taste. Cognitive dissonance, man.
They come with their own letters of authenticity.
It's a cop-out. When he says "work" he really just means "will suggest to private parties". Is he going to sell government land at a lower price to conservation groups than he would to private investors? Of course not, the free market is the bestest thing in the world according to these guys.
You know, one thing I've always wondered, why do libertarians, who just love guns so much, always complaining that the government has them?
But the downside is you have to live in Texas.
I've never understood people's awe over Id. They don't make very good games. I mean, Doom was very, very good, but every game they've made so far has been a retread of it. And before anyone starts whining about how they make great engines, and let other people use them to make great games, shut the hell up. They made the game, they marketed it, they released it, they sure as hell can be judged on it.
Are you kidding? Id is probably the most mainstream FPS maker out there. Hell, it's probably the only FPS franchise that non-gamers have even heard of.
Linguists have known for a long time about this, and contrary to the countless posts here, Stephen Pinker didn't discover this.
Mix two languages and you get pidgin in the first generation and creole in the second.
then they're marked as a Target Which Pays and more extortion demands come in from other crooks.
How would they be marked? It's not like they're getting the front page of Online Blackmailer Magazine. If it's done quietly then the information doesn't go public, and contrary to popular belief there isn't some "underworld" where criminals stay in constant communication with each other.
The volume of nuclear waste is very very small compared to the size of the planet (very small).
...Unless we start building all the nuclear power plants that pro-nuke people advocate, in which case the waste will get much bigger. The temporary storage sites are filled to overflowing, Yucca Mountain is years away from operation, and people here constantly urge that we should just build a bunch of new plants. It boggles the mind.
Besides which, in terms of volume, one cubic meter of waste can contaminate a vast amount of area if it gets into the groundwater. You can't just look at volume, you also have to look at toxicity.
Soccer is as boring as baseball. But at least baseball has some strategy to it, though it would be a much better game if it were only like 5 innings.