I used the Dvorak layout for about a year and a half (going back and forth between qwerty and Dvorak, touch typing on both) and found that my hands did feel better typing on the Dvorak. I "converted" an ergonomic keyboard to Dvorak.
However, as I pointed out last time this came up here, writing a letter to your grandma on the Dvorak layout is a pretty neat experience. Your hands hardly move from their "home" position when talking about the weather, what's going on at home, etc.
Typing anything we blog or discuss in IM today on Dvorak is a nightmare. Acronyms, computer terminology, and programming in Dvorak take a LOT of getting used to.
Plus the typos in IM are very difficult for others to understand. When you slip one letter in qwerty, most folks know what you mean. On Dvorak, they have no idea WTF you're typing.
I noticed that thing about the brackets too... basically, if it's not regular ol' words, Dvorak can be aggravating for the first few months.
A friend of mine was the voice of Atlas. Due to union regulations, rules etc. he was not allowed to be credited on the video game box (either the XBox or PC version). He worked closely with Kevin for a long period of time, recording, re-recording, discussing character direction etc.
His wages barely covered the union dues to enter SAG (Screen Actors Guild). So, with Bioshock's success and the impending movie, what can he do? He would of course love to be the voice in the movie, but with the success of the game, at the very lease he could be paid something larger than what he got for a paycheck for his work. It was orders of magnitude smaller than the guy from GTA IV's complaining about.
I added the actor's name to the Wikipedia article on Bioshock...
He wants to know: How important is it to the gaming community to use the original voices / characters in the movie?
I'd love to see him get more work since he's a very good actor and deserves it for his dedication. At the very least he should get to apply that Master's Degree of his!
No no, remember what IT said? The fax machine is a direct connection to an outside phone line because the PBX we have doesn't like it. So for every other phone, dial a 9, but not the fax!
On a side note, anyone notice that article's first sentence makes zero sense and the author can't seem to spell "dependent"? Perhaps in the future we'll go back to Shakespeare's rules of spelling.
Well, it has to be to me anyhow... ever since my copy of BLAZEMONGER actually self destructed (taking my Amiga with it) because I *thought* about making a backup copy of it in case it got worn out.
That's copy protection! At least I didn't have to call their customer support.
Yeah, you just can't get out of using QWERTY. So, on my laptop I'm still QWERTY, but when I dock my laptop, I am Dvorak.
Reasons why you have to switch back:
Remote Desktop to other machines you don't own means QWERTY
Visiting customers, other cubes, etc. and having to type something
Doing tech support for your parents
So, I switch back and forth. I'm almost a touch typist on Dvorak (I still look down), but maintain most of my speed on QWERTY. After working on Dvorak for some time, here's what I've noticed:
Acronyms (almost all we type on computers) are still awkward, but now in a different way
Typos are way different... different enough that people in IM sessions can't guess what you meant
After a long day of typing, my hands still hurt... but in different places
Common words (like stuff you'd write for an English paper) are easy, but tech words aren't
Punctuation is the hardest to re-map
Here's how I started the experiment... I took an old keyboard that IT didn't have a use for anymore, popped of the keys and did some minor modifications in order to put the keys in the right order. The problem is that even your vanilla keyboard has slightly "ergo" tilts and shapes to the keys so the resulting keyboard looks like a misshapen mess. You can feel it when you type. Also, the effort in typing goes way up and your fingers will hurt a lot.
So, I took my trusty ergonomic keyboard and a Dymo label machine with clear tape and punched out the keys, cut them out, and then affixed them on top of the letters of the keyboard. This has worked quite well and only cost me a foot of Dymo tape (I was afraid of making the commitment to a dedicated keyboard and I hate not recycling stuff).
What's odd is that the brain switches easily. I use my laptop as the primary screen in my 2 monitor desktop, so I get access to the QWERTY keyboard. When I remote desktop to another computer, I just move up to the laptop keyboard. When I'm on my regular keyboard, I'm in Dvorak.
Here's the biggest problem (and it got a little better in Vista and Office 2007)... if you live this dual life and switch between layouts, Windows does it on a per-app basis, not the whole OS. So, each application will have to be switched to Dvorak mode after it opens. This can lead to a lot of aggravation when you're typing and not paying attention to the screen. It comes out like frg dak. br ugjtcbi ce.a,day frg-p. yflcbi. So that can be frustrating (yes, that's real Dvorak on a QWERTY).
Sure it's insensitive* (you know it has to be if it's on Family Guy) but I think it really explains what's going on here!
quote: SPEAKER: Archeological evidence indicates that Ireland was a much different place before the discovery of alcohol. Speaker Most experts believe it was something like this.
[Flying cars whizzing]
Irishman Today we, Ireland's top scientists, have found a way to convert our entire population to pure energy! Irishman 2 It's a glorious day. Irishman 3 Michael McCloud's just invented a new kind of beverage in his basement. Irishman 3 Whiskey.
Well, my showers aren't ALL that long... it doesn't really give me much extra time.
But now with the new Homeland Security policy and the TSA's help, I won't have to brush my teeth or style my mop while on the road either! (Not that Fox News is a great source, but it was in the mighty Slashdot post about the terrorism event... so it must be true... or canonically wrong.)
Cool, that pretty much makes sense. If your PSP is that new, then I doubt they got a new supplier. That's newer than mine. I'll have to dig around other places and see what the conclusion was about the screen speed. It might be passive matrix. A screen that big had to be pretty expensive if it were more state of the art.
What I figured out about the battery life was: Memory Stick good, UMD bad. That's about the only reason I would consider doing Homebrew stuff at this point. That way I could back up a UMD and play it from the stick instead of a disc.
I was considering a DS Lite just to see what all the young people are talking about in terms of games. I just don't really have the time though. If I could take mass transit more where I live, it would be a better option... however, I only really take mass transit in other cities. That's when I lament the PSP's bulkiness as an MP3 player and the glare issue.
But it's great for me on planes.
So, to sum up, when it comes to bringing something on planes, PSP's >> snakes.
You might guess that I'm going to disagree with some of your post. Yes, it is both big and bright... but if it were bright enough, you wouldn't have as much of a problem with glare. I put a screen protector on the scratchy screen first thing (ordered and delivered at the same time). It is also an anti-glare protector, so maybe my glare issues are reduced.
On a plane (with or without snakes), there isn't a real glare problem for me. Most flights ask people to lower the blinds these days (for the sucky in-flight movie), but even if they don't, it's fine.
I've heard about the motion blur problem you are talking about. Some people complain about it and others don't. I wonder if all PSP's have the same screen. I've played Ridge Racer on it and didn't see the motion blur. But I might not be looking for the right thing.
When people talk about motion blur and slow screens I think about the laptops in the days before TFT displays. THOSE were slow screens (black and white too!).
The battery life is great for me. If you read the rest of my post, you might notice that even after 2 to 3 hours of watching videos, I have only used 1/3 the battery. This is because I'm NOT using the UMD drive. I agree, the UMD drive will kill your battery. One of the best reasons to "back up" your games is for battery life and load times. The iPod video and the Creative Zen will only allow you to watch about 4 hours before they start getting low on battery. Music only battery life on those devices is much better.
I wish that Sony would let you watch your own videos at the native UMD resolution.
Like I also said, I don't play lots of games period (on the PSP or otherwise). So my "motion blur" gripes may not be the same as your own. I have seen some debate on this topic in different forums, so I wonder if they changed suppliers. My PSP came with the 1.5 firmware about 9 to 10 months after the initial release. It could be the screens are different from the initial release.
It beats the hell out of an iPod / Zen for watching lots of video for my eyes.
I bought a PSP for the video capabilities. The screen is simply AWESOME (if you don't scratch it). Be sure to get a protective case for it!
How I use it: In flight entertainment. It's amazing what a flight attendant stopper it is. Ingredients:
at least 1 >= 1GB memory stick and a memory stick reader
A Media Center 2005, TiVo, MythTV etc. box
PSPVideo9 or PSPWare
Options: DVD backups (VOB files) that you save to another file server. Converting FLV videos from YouTube or Google (a bit too much effort for the resulting crappy quality).
Basically, I take PSPVideo9, add a line to its XML configuration file to recognize a DVR-MS file (I have a Media Center), and then pick about 6 hours of Colbert Reports and Daily Show's I've missed in the past week or so. Anything with a DirectShow filter installed can be converted by PSPVideo9... it just takes an extra line of XML to recognize the file extension.
This process takes a while, so I start it the night before my trip...
In the morning, I copy the files to my Memory Stick during my shower (once a month, whether I need it or not). This can take some time depending on your card reader speed.
I then laugh my ass off on the plane all the way across country. You can do this with a DVD backup program and PSPVideo9 as well. A 30 minute TV program is about 60MB and a 2 hour movies chops down to less than 300MB. If you have a 16:9 aspect ratio movie, it fills up the screen as the director intended. If you have a 4:3 show, just zoom the PSP screen and it will fill it (you lose 10% off the top and bottom, but it isn't stretched out).
Now, here's the next part... there are 100's of ways to skin this cat, but here is how I did it...
Get TV programs remotely (extra credit):
Set up a private VPN in your favorite way (I used Hamachi, but you could do SSH etc.)
this may require a DynDNS or HomeIP type access to your router / Media Center / MythTV
Set up TightVNC or similar (usual precautions apply about security)
Set up FTP on the box you wish to fetch your final media from
you could do this in some really interesting ways, but this is easy
So, on your remote computer:
Join your VPN and use VNC to access the computer
Convert your TV or DVD files as usual (PSPVideo9) using VNC
Ensure the finished files end up in your FTP directory
Minimize it and log out
Later... FTP to your home machine, download the content to your remote PC
now that Firmware 2.8 is out for the PSP, you could set them up as RSS feeds and download directly to your PSP
I'd like to do the RSS route... that would be cool. Everyone I've let use my PSP to watch video (even iPod users) are blown away with the quality of the playback.
Battery life for memory-stick based operations is *great*. I use 1 bar out of 3 watching movies or TV for 2 hours. iPod / iTunes video does work well.
Be sure to pick up a combination USB and PSP cable so you can charge your PSP and another USB device as well off 1 port.
Drawbacks and gripes: 1 GB Mem sticks are a small. 4GB will be great. Those can be had for $150 or so now. You can't take a HUGE library of media with you (like a 60GB iPod)... which is fine for TV for me File format for video has to be MP4... way lame, but you have to chop it anyway. Volume for playing video back isn't great - it needs to get boosted during conversion Playing audio through FM tuners is NOT good... too quiet for most cars with the road noise
But, I think it is a really nice piece of hardware... I dan't play many games, but the ones I have, I enjoy. I don't play a lot of other games on other platforms either, so I don't have a lot to compare it to...
Well, I guess that assumes a pretty effective fraud mobilization unit. The P2P threatening aspects of it don't scale well. The buying of votes, however, does (on the InterWeb). I wasn't really thinking about that as much.
My main issue with a paper tape is that I can't validate that my vote was properly cast by the machine. It's only in a recount situation that it would get invoked... but imagine if the Superman III or Office Space scheme actually worked? You put in just enough fraud to tip the election, but not be perceptible without lots of scrutiny.
I think the best first step we could take would to be to kill the electoral college. Also, perhaps rethinking the Senate so it's more like the House of Reps in terms of representation. Ted Stevens' antics would be noise compared to more level headed representatives. There are positive aspects to "equal representation" but wow... it's way open to abuse. I don't think the imbalance of population was envisioned when creating the governmental branches. We don't want Alaska to turn into a disused trailer park because they got passed over for funding either.
So, what if voting worked more like American Idol (maybe not multiple times, but not by secret ballot)? What if it were totally open? Our cuurent system as a whole doesn't inspire people to take a stand or make a change. We are part of the "Matrix" in an economic way (bad analogy time!). We have no direct ability to influence the machine, but it feeds off the economic energy we supply. We're told to do so by W himself. "Go about your normal day." So we're insulated form the politics and the reality of the war we're in because our priority is to keep the money rolling in.
I don't see how changing a president is going to alter that reality now. Bigger change is needed.
So, paper tape is one thing, but we actually need to get people to do something en masse. I don't see any reason to expect an election outcome with a clear winner for many many years to come (i.e. > 55%, not decided in a swing state). We might as well just hold the election in Ohio and Florida and give everyone else the day off.
Dang it! I messed up the formatting... it was suppoed to look like this (you know... readable):
So, if there were an open standard way of doing a "voting receipt" so that you could get:
Your Voter record number
Your Voter ID
Your Votes as cast
It would seem that you could have a Web site, or a third party at the exit that could scan your receipt and have you validate your choices. It should be implemented by another vendor than Diebold (due to it being an open standard) and work like a Credit Card machine. The print-out could be in three pieces (cut 99% of the way allowing you to tear off the final bit if you choose) so that your ID, voting record ID, and the actual voting record would be all separate.
As you walk out, the UN (or similar) could scan your bar code, validate with you that those were the right selections, and you could go an about your day. Or you could do it from home or the library.
This way, if the UN / third party gets an appreciably different count than the "official" count, an investigation could be spawned immediately.
To me, there is no good way to ensure that the link between the printer and the database is exact in software (i.e. write one value to the database, print out something else). An external procedure is needed, and must be based on a standard that it could be implemented by a third party.
I don't care if someone records my actual votes, as long as it isn't tied back to my actual vote instance or my identity. However, I want to ensure that:
My votes were recorded correctly
My actual vote was counted
My voter info is correct
Those are separate, but related tasks. Heck, if you did it right, I could vote at home, print it, walk in, scan it, and walk out.
So, if there were an open standard way of doing a "voting receipt" so that you could get:
Your Voter record number
Your Voter ID
Your Votes as cast
It would seem that you could have a Web site, or a third party at the exit that could scan your receipt and have you validate your choices. It should be implemented by another vendor than Diebold (due to it being an open standard) and work like a Credit Card machine. The print-out could be in three pieces (cut 99% of the way allowing you to tear off the final bit if you choose) so that your ID, voting record ID, and the actual voting record would be all separate.
As you walk out, the UN (or similar) could scan your bar code, validate with you that those were the right selections, and you could go an about your day. Or you could do it from home or the library.
This way, if the UN / third party gets an appreciably different count than the "official" count, an investigation could be spawned immediately.
To me, there is no good way to ensure that the link between the printer and the database is exact in software (i.e. write one value to the database, print out something else). An external procedure is needed, and must be based on a standard that it could be implemented by a third party.
I don't care if someone records my actual votes, as long as it isn't tied back to my actual vote instance or my identity. However, I want to ensure that:
My votes were recorded correctly
My actual vote was counted
My voter info is correct
Those are separate, but related tasks. Heck, if you did it right, I could vote at home, print it, walk in, scan it, and walk out.
What do you think?
TTFN
Yeah, but is there amy study of coffee's LD50? Maybe that's what Starbucks is up to!;-)
I've found that I like drinking Yerba Mate better. It's supposed to be better for you and a study has been done about it (requires submission to their marketing machine to get the PDF - they haven't called me yet). Some of the results appear to have been lifted by one of this company's competitors. Don't buy into the "mateine vs. caffeine" BS... Mate has caffeine.
What it doesn't have is all the other odd compounds that coffee has. I read once that the reason coffee gives you the jitters and keeps you more dependent is not solely due to the caffeine - it also involves all the other organic compounds found in your average cuppa joe.
You can more easily experiment with a variety you can find in Trader Joe's called Guayaki. They make both bagged and loose varieties. The bagged isn't as good as the loose, but it's easier to manage. The brand I've been using lately is from Aviva.
It's an acquired taste, and the history is unique (plus you can drink it in the traditional social way and wow your co-workers with the perephernalia). Next time you go to a Latin American grocery store (or Ashland, OR, or Santa Cruz, CA) you will see a wide variety of the South American brands... it's so common down there that some brands put pictures of missing children on the packages (like we do with milk cartons) - which is a sad, but interesting, social study.
I've been drinking it solely for 8 years now. Does it make you more healthy? Not sure... my migraines have not gone away, but didn't get worse. I've had something similar to the stomach flu once during the past 8 years (I contend it was food related). No other sicknesses. Even when my wife is fevered and hacking up a lung next to me. Maybe there's something to it, maybe not... but I didn't like being dependent on coffee.
The SVG engine doesn't appear to render the SVG files my company produces. I will try to do some more testing, but our files render in Adobe SVG Viewer, Corel SVG Viewer, FrameMaker, Illustrator, and Mozilla's old SVG build from ages ago. The DOM only works so far in Adobe's SVG Viewer (we adhere to the SVG spec, but everyone's viewer interprets the SVG standard a bit differently).
We really require the DOM to make our SVG's function, but I can't get that far into Firefox's SVG capabilities to see if it is possible to make it work.
It would be nice to have another environment as an option, especially since Microsoft is mostly concerned with XAML and VML currently. SVG doesn't appear to be on their list of things to do.
To try out a Dvorak layout I took a decent, regular Dell keyboard and rearranged the keys. This isn't quite as trivial as I had initially expected because the "home keys" in the QWERTY layout had a tab on them that was unique to the receptacle.
A little filing and the keyboard works well enough for the experiment. The keys are slightly disoriented due to being specifically maufactured for the QWERTY layout (after rearrangement, the key heights are inconsistent). Incidentally, the only key that stays in the same place is the "a" so you'll type words like "avalanche" much faster than other words. Aardvark isn't as easy as you might think.
This is Week 3 of the switch. I type solely Dvorak at work and QWERTY everywhere else.
I don't have a problem going back to QWERTY right now, and my Dvorak abilities are getting better. I still have problems with the m, w, and n keys. I wish that w and m were further apart.
My observations so far: If you use Windows, be sure to set up a hotkey to toggle back and forth between Dvorak and QWERTY for 2 reasons: 1. Windows doesn't always remember a global setting for the keyboard and so many of your first sentences will llok like this: Jg kjdod! Js, aod tsf hsglu{
I've sent many an instant message like that.
Reason 2: If you have a laptop, and you set it permanently to Dvorak, you might have some issues typing your password (unless you rearrange your keys... not recommended and potentially not possible). You could get yourself locked out from your system in a hurry.
My impressions so far: I'm not a programmer, but I do write about technology all day. Acronyms and tech speak are not any easier on Dvorak vs. QWERTY. TLA's with "obscure" letters in them might be harder to type. Dvorak is based on common words in English... most technology isn't concerned with the common words that Dvorak was anticipating.
Plain English like you would write to your parents or other normal person who thinks Dvorak is a composer rather than a keyboard or tech columnist is "easier" than QWERTY. I put that in quotes because, until I get faster, nothing is "easy" yet. But words like: through, this, that, the, should, numbnuts, etc. are easy to type.
Instant messaging is very hard. People ask you if you're on the phone or if they should bug you later due to the time it takes you to compose a sentence. Typo's are totally foreign. You get a lot more vowel substitution in this layout than in QWERTY.
Comedy through instant messaging is very hard because you can't "carpe momentum*" (*not latin), or "sieze a moment's opportumity to type something funny as a reply before you victim can type back at you."
You get a lot of time to ponder your messages while you hunt and peck for keys. All the while, you think to yourself "is there an easier way to type that?" "Maybe I can use a word with less j's in it..."
It also will make you think about using mouse gestures and keyboard shortcuts (CTRL-S, C, X, V, and Z are no longer convenient). I have reverted to CTRL-Ins. / Shift-Ins. for copy / paste. You also begin to consider the merits of training Word to use Auto Complete intelligently (or at least moreso).
Overall, it's a flashback to the year you first struggled to touch type... for me that's 4-6th grade. That wasn't pleasant in general, but typing papers was excruciating in Fleet System 3 and later GEOS on the C=64, mostly due to learning to type. You gain a new appreciation of how nimble you are on the QWERTY keyboard and how fluid the expression of your thoughts actually is.
Going from 80-100 WPM on QWERTY down to 10 WPM (now maybe about 20 WPM) has been an interesting experience. I've not lost productivity necessarily, but my emails have become more terse and people think there's something wrong with me (more than usual) when I IM them.
Oddly enough, one of the hardest things to type is QWERTY...
Good luck! TTFN... not switching back yet... (about 18 WPM on this post)
Actually, I got a personal briefing last week from Microsoft officials about the new file format.
The new open format is a very good thing. To some it's too little, too late, but there are many advantages to opening the file format that aren't being explored here. We should note that the new XML is nothing like the 2003 XML.
How about making content management easier? With the new XML format, you can make sections of a document available for revision. You can apply custom style sheets and schemas to the document.
How about letting document segments take part in external business processes? If you apply a schema to a document, tag it with some meta-data, you can then extract a section for, say, an electronic signature, and then attach the new information easily to the document and continue about your business process.
The option for customer companies and ISV's to take advantage of what used to be content in a monolithic file format is quite tantilizing when you're trying to make visibility a key objective in a business. There are bits of documents that are really useful to different audiences and roles in an organization, but delivering a whole document to them and making them pick it apart isn't the best option. Chopping it up for them beforehand implies that you know all the questions they are going to ask in advance. The new format allows a more dynamic document experience (with some data-driven prodding from external databases or business systems and the appropriate schema inside the document).
There are other improvements in Office that will allow external applications to play with the content more easily. Rendering several file formats based on an XSLT now becomes possible. So a Word doc could go to a custom HTML template, perhaps a PDF, or some other custom XML document spec for use between joint-venture organizations.
What about the fact that if your file gets screwed up, you might be able to crack open the Zip file (just rename the DOCX, PPTX, or XLSX file to.ZIP) and extract the good XML parts? Everything is "normalized" in these files, so individual slides in PowerPoint are XML files, sheets in Excel and XML files, styles are XML files, comments and reviewing marks are XML files (so removing all comments is a file operation now instead of a macro that you HOPE expunged all those nasty little comments you made in the document).
So imagine, if a document is broken up like this, how it can be absorbed more easily by a database. Now imagine indexing the content - then think of the advent of WinFS where SQL Server is built-into your NTFS file system. I didn't hear any plans about this, but the extrapolation potential is pretty interesting. I know I spend lots of time looking for crap inside documents, as well as the location of documents.
So I think it's more than OOo compatibility when it comes to businesses, and I think there is a greater push to make this openness come true than file compatibility with competitive office suite products.
I agree, there are errors in plays - the text and the staging - all the time. That's why actors and directors have "text work" where they examine the script in detail and find problems. That's why dramaturgs exist. It's ultimately up to a director to fix them. Actors can't possibly cover everything up, but they are a part of the solution.
What I'm saying is that if you have $20 to $150 million dollars, you might be able to pay a couple people to watch for consistency. Sort of like QA for software. Or is that a bad analogy!
However, it is an interesting dichotomy that you construct when you accuse a community that tries to support an activity as elitist.
The problem today is that people are becoming more disconnected. They guy you cut off on the freeway because you're late to Starbucks, the guy with the lame bumper stickers that make you angry are all easier to pick on when you don't have to interact with them. Movies, the Internet, and technology like iPods all help us disconnect from one another and make perpetuating self-centered behavior easy and regret-free.
I think that our worship of commerce has caused theatre to become "elite" by driving up the price. This is sad. I see better theatre for $10 to $25 than most any movie I can think of (indie or not). I also find that expensive theatre doesn't equal quality.
As for acting and writing... well, we've rewarded bad writing with patronizing reality TV. Great acting is possible, but it has to have direction. Like you said, 95% of movies and other media are crap. The problem is that a lot more crap gets to the box office and a large number of remarkable theatre and books goes unnoticed by the public.
It all comes to attention for detail. Film is in love with the technology... special effects, cameras, lighting, sound effects etc. They don't tell the story.
My point is that they can afford to, and they piss away the opportunity and produce more crap because we're all so cowed into accepting substandard production.
Yes, however when you have lots and LOTS of money, you hire a team of people before and after the shoot that do "consistency" editing and checking.
Good movies that seem to have everything covered have a team of people dedicated to ensuring that between shots costumes, hair, make-up, injuries, sets etc. are all continuous for the audience.
SoapBox Mode On: This is one of the drawbacks of shooting things out of order. Another drawback is that because so much emphasis is placed on the "shot" that the "acting" goes out the window. Directors spend very little time (I am speaking on average here) with the "talent" and leave most actors to their own devices. Without clear direction, only the strongest actors can pull off a great performance, and to me, that makes or breaks a film. Even a crappy story can be made better with great acting. Writing is also out the window these days, but I digress...
Consistency errors are inexcusible. This is why I watch plays more than movies. Movies, like software in many ways, are rushed to market to capitalize on money and sacrifice quality. This is my opinion.
That said, I've seen a lot of crap plays as well. However, I would rather see a questionable play where actors are with me, in the room, baring their hearts to the audience, than a movie with all the budget in the world and little concern for the actors on screen or the audience in the seats.
If you watch most press tours about a movie, most of the statements are plattitudes about the cast and a focus on how they "pulled it off" just in time. This sort of thing is OK for indie films and small-house theatre, but big-budget productions have no excuse for this.
Critics let them get away with it. Maybe not the internet based critics, but people published in magazines and newspapers give you plot summary, some acting notes, and little else. It's like a book report for 3rd grade. This is true in theatre too. My suggestion to anyone going to theatre is to learn about the production, if the story interests you, go! The critic most likely saw it on opening night and the show has evolved since then.
With movies you get what you pay for - check your brain at the door and go.
With theatre, bring your brain, turn off your cell phone, and unwrap your hard candy before curtain. Be prepared to be transformed.
With both, you don't always get what you pay for... big ticket prices for theatre do no automatically mean you should give them a Standing Ovation. Movies are generally the same price, but if you compare production budgets, I think the same holds true.
Sure, I'm biased... I've acted for many years, am married to an up-and-coming actor/actress (depending on the role), and many friends are actors on both stage and screen. I value the contribution of a well-made movie, but seldom see one. I think that plays build a community because each audience is together for one moment in history that can't be repeated. The drama is both on stage and in the story, and that story is shared with an audience every night.
Support your local theatre and put the humanity back in humans.
Driving styles totally impact the mileage with hybrids. We have the Honda Civic Hybrid and when I drive I get about 41-44 MPG with combined highway and city driving. We live in a very hilly area, so we probably tax the gas engine quite a bit compared to if we lived in a relatively flat area.
When my wife drives, she gets about 38 miles per gallon consistently. The strange part is that I drive faster than she does. However, I think I "optimize" for the hybrid more. I ensure that I roll as much as possible with the engine off, I take off slower from stops (usually), and I try to keep the engine RPM below a certain level.
We also noticed that if you accidentally un-seat the gas cap a bit you can get better mileage. Something about the fuel pressure putting less fuel in the engine. It was good for about 3-4 more MPG.
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I used the Dvorak layout for about a year and a half (going back and forth between qwerty and Dvorak, touch typing on both) and found that my hands did feel better typing on the Dvorak. I "converted" an ergonomic keyboard to Dvorak.
However, as I pointed out last time this came up here, writing a letter to your grandma on the Dvorak layout is a pretty neat experience. Your hands hardly move from their "home" position when talking about the weather, what's going on at home, etc.
Typing anything we blog or discuss in IM today on Dvorak is a nightmare. Acronyms, computer terminology, and programming in Dvorak take a LOT of getting used to.
Plus the typos in IM are very difficult for others to understand. When you slip one letter in qwerty, most folks know what you mean. On Dvorak, they have no idea WTF you're typing.
I noticed that thing about the brackets too... basically, if it's not regular ol' words, Dvorak can be aggravating for the first few months.
TTFN
A friend of mine was the voice of Atlas. Due to union regulations, rules etc. he was not allowed to be credited on the video game box (either the XBox or PC version). He worked closely with Kevin for a long period of time, recording, re-recording, discussing character direction etc.
His wages barely covered the union dues to enter SAG (Screen Actors Guild). So, with Bioshock's success and the impending movie, what can he do? He would of course love to be the voice in the movie, but with the success of the game, at the very lease he could be paid something larger than what he got for a paycheck for his work. It was orders of magnitude smaller than the guy from GTA IV's complaining about.
I added the actor's name to the Wikipedia article on Bioshock...
He wants to know:
How important is it to the gaming community to use the original voices / characters in the movie?
I'd love to see him get more work since he's a very good actor and deserves it for his dedication. At the very least he should get to apply that Master's Degree of his!
TTFN
No no, remember what IT said? The fax machine is a direct connection to an outside phone line because the PBX we have doesn't like it. So for every other phone, dial a 9, but not the fax!
On a side note, anyone notice that article's first sentence makes zero sense and the author can't seem to spell "dependent"? Perhaps in the future we'll go back to Shakespeare's rules of spelling.
TTFN
Old sys admins never grow old, they just get moved to /dev/null.
TTFN
I mean, it's going to be! Right?
Well, it has to be to me anyhow... ever since my copy of BLAZEMONGER actually self destructed (taking my Amiga with it) because I *thought* about making a backup copy of it in case it got worn out.
That's copy protection! At least I didn't have to call their customer support.
TTFN
Reasons why you have to switch back:
So, I switch back and forth. I'm almost a touch typist on Dvorak (I still look down), but maintain most of my speed on QWERTY. After working on Dvorak for some time, here's what I've noticed:
Here's how I started the experiment... I took an old keyboard that IT didn't have a use for anymore, popped of the keys and did some minor modifications in order to put the keys in the right order. The problem is that even your vanilla keyboard has slightly "ergo" tilts and shapes to the keys so the resulting keyboard looks like a misshapen mess. You can feel it when you type. Also, the effort in typing goes way up and your fingers will hurt a lot.
So, I took my trusty ergonomic keyboard and a Dymo label machine with clear tape and punched out the keys, cut them out, and then affixed them on top of the letters of the keyboard. This has worked quite well and only cost me a foot of Dymo tape (I was afraid of making the commitment to a dedicated keyboard and I hate not recycling stuff).
What's odd is that the brain switches easily. I use my laptop as the primary screen in my 2 monitor desktop, so I get access to the QWERTY keyboard. When I remote desktop to another computer, I just move up to the laptop keyboard. When I'm on my regular keyboard, I'm in Dvorak.
Here's the biggest problem (and it got a little better in Vista and Office 2007)... if you live this dual life and switch between layouts, Windows does it on a per-app basis, not the whole OS. So, each application will have to be switched to Dvorak mode after it opens. This can lead to a lot of aggravation when you're typing and not paying attention to the screen. It comes out like frg dak. br ugjtcbi ce.a ,day frg-p. yflcbi. So that can be frustrating (yes, that's real Dvorak on a QWERTY).
Tools:
TTFN
I'm surprised it wasn't on here yet...
Sure it's insensitive* (you know it has to be if it's on Family Guy) but I think it really explains what's going on here!
quote:
SPEAKER: Archeological evidence indicates that Ireland was a much different place before the discovery of alcohol.
Speaker Most experts believe it was something like this.
[Flying cars whizzing]
Irishman Today we, Ireland's top scientists, have found a way to convert our entire population to pure energy!
Irishman 2 It's a glorious day.
Irishman 3 Michael McCloud's just invented a new kind of beverage in his basement.
Irishman 3 Whiskey.
[Rowdy drunken yelling]
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/128718/family_guy/
* yeah... I'm irish and scottish too, so it only hurts when I laugh...
Well, my showers aren't ALL that long... it doesn't really give me much extra time.
But now with the new Homeland Security policy and the TSA's help, I won't have to brush my teeth or style my mop while on the road either! (Not that Fox News is a great source, but it was in the mighty Slashdot post about the terrorism event... so it must be true... or canonically wrong.)
I can pack lighter AND have more time too!
TTFN
Cool, that pretty much makes sense. If your PSP is that new, then I doubt they got a new supplier. That's newer than mine. I'll have to dig around other places and see what the conclusion was about the screen speed. It might be passive matrix. A screen that big had to be pretty expensive if it were more state of the art.
What I figured out about the battery life was: Memory Stick good, UMD bad. That's about the only reason I would consider doing Homebrew stuff at this point. That way I could back up a UMD and play it from the stick instead of a disc.
I was considering a DS Lite just to see what all the young people are talking about in terms of games. I just don't really have the time though. If I could take mass transit more where I live, it would be a better option... however, I only really take mass transit in other cities. That's when I lament the PSP's bulkiness as an MP3 player and the glare issue.
But it's great for me on planes.
So, to sum up, when it comes to bringing something on planes, PSP's >> snakes.
TTFN
You might guess that I'm going to disagree with some of your post. Yes, it is both big and bright... but if it were bright enough, you wouldn't have as much of a problem with glare. I put a screen protector on the scratchy screen first thing (ordered and delivered at the same time). It is also an anti-glare protector, so maybe my glare issues are reduced.
On a plane (with or without snakes), there isn't a real glare problem for me. Most flights ask people to lower the blinds these days (for the sucky in-flight movie), but even if they don't, it's fine.
I've heard about the motion blur problem you are talking about. Some people complain about it and others don't. I wonder if all PSP's have the same screen. I've played Ridge Racer on it and didn't see the motion blur. But I might not be looking for the right thing.
When people talk about motion blur and slow screens I think about the laptops in the days before TFT displays. THOSE were slow screens (black and white too!).
The battery life is great for me. If you read the rest of my post, you might notice that even after 2 to 3 hours of watching videos, I have only used 1/3 the battery. This is because I'm NOT using the UMD drive. I agree, the UMD drive will kill your battery. One of the best reasons to "back up" your games is for battery life and load times. The iPod video and the Creative Zen will only allow you to watch about 4 hours before they start getting low on battery. Music only battery life on those devices is much better.
I wish that Sony would let you watch your own videos at the native UMD resolution.
Like I also said, I don't play lots of games period (on the PSP or otherwise). So my "motion blur" gripes may not be the same as your own. I have seen some debate on this topic in different forums, so I wonder if they changed suppliers. My PSP came with the 1.5 firmware about 9 to 10 months after the initial release. It could be the screens are different from the initial release.
It beats the hell out of an iPod / Zen for watching lots of video for my eyes.
Take care,
TTFN
How I use it: In flight entertainment. It's amazing what a flight attendant stopper it is.
Ingredients:
Options:
DVD backups (VOB files) that you save to another file server.
Converting FLV videos from YouTube or Google (a bit too much effort for the resulting crappy quality).
Basically, I take PSPVideo9, add a line to its XML configuration file to recognize a DVR-MS file (I have a Media Center), and then pick about 6 hours of Colbert Reports and Daily Show's I've missed in the past week or so. Anything with a DirectShow filter installed can be converted by PSPVideo9... it just takes an extra line of XML to recognize the file extension.
This process takes a while, so I start it the night before my trip...
In the morning, I copy the files to my Memory Stick during my shower (once a month, whether I need it or not). This can take some time depending on your card reader speed.
I then laugh my ass off on the plane all the way across country. You can do this with a DVD backup program and PSPVideo9 as well. A 30 minute TV program is about 60MB and a 2 hour movies chops down to less than 300MB. If you have a 16:9 aspect ratio movie, it fills up the screen as the director intended. If you have a 4:3 show, just zoom the PSP screen and it will fill it (you lose 10% off the top and bottom, but it isn't stretched out).
Now, here's the next part... there are 100's of ways to skin this cat, but here is how I did it...
Get TV programs remotely (extra credit):
So, on your remote computer:
I'd like to do the RSS route... that would be cool.
Everyone I've let use my PSP to watch video (even iPod users) are blown away with the quality of the playback.
Battery life for memory-stick based operations is *great*. I use 1 bar out of 3 watching movies or TV for 2 hours. iPod / iTunes video does work well.
Be sure to pick up a combination USB and PSP cable so you can charge your PSP and another USB device as well off 1 port.
Drawbacks and gripes:
1 GB Mem sticks are a small. 4GB will be great. Those can be had for $150 or so now.
You can't take a HUGE library of media with you (like a 60GB iPod)... which is fine for TV for me
File format for video has to be MP4... way lame, but you have to chop it anyway.
Volume for playing video back isn't great - it needs to get boosted during conversion
Playing audio through FM tuners is NOT good... too quiet for most cars with the road noise
But, I think it is a really nice piece of hardware... I dan't play many games, but the ones I have, I enjoy. I don't play a lot of other games on other platforms either, so I don't have a lot to compare it to...
TTFN
I guess what I'm looking for is a way to get enough votes to count that vote buying schemes become ineffective, or at least grossly detectible.
It's really aboutgetting people to vote and trust the system...
thanks for the comments!
TTFN
Well, I guess that assumes a pretty effective fraud mobilization unit. The P2P threatening aspects of it don't scale well. The buying of votes, however, does (on the InterWeb). I wasn't really thinking about that as much.
My main issue with a paper tape is that I can't validate that my vote was properly cast by the machine. It's only in a recount situation that it would get invoked... but imagine if the Superman III or Office Space scheme actually worked? You put in just enough fraud to tip the election, but not be perceptible without lots of scrutiny.
I think the best first step we could take would to be to kill the electoral college. Also, perhaps rethinking the Senate so it's more like the House of Reps in terms of representation. Ted Stevens' antics would be noise compared to more level headed representatives. There are positive aspects to "equal representation" but wow... it's way open to abuse. I don't think the imbalance of population was envisioned when creating the governmental branches. We don't want Alaska to turn into a disused trailer park because they got passed over for funding either.
So, what if voting worked more like American Idol (maybe not multiple times, but not by secret ballot)? What if it were totally open? Our cuurent system as a whole doesn't inspire people to take a stand or make a change. We are part of the "Matrix" in an economic way (bad analogy time!). We have no direct ability to influence the machine, but it feeds off the economic energy we supply. We're told to do so by W himself. "Go about your normal day." So we're insulated form the politics and the reality of the war we're in because our priority is to keep the money rolling in.
I don't see how changing a president is going to alter that reality now. Bigger change is needed.
So, paper tape is one thing, but we actually need to get people to do something en masse. I don't see any reason to expect an election outcome with a clear winner for many many years to come (i.e. > 55%, not decided in a swing state). We might as well just hold the election in Ohio and Florida and give everyone else the day off.
Thanks for your input...
TTFN
So, if there were an open standard way of doing a "voting receipt" so that you could get:
It would seem that you could have a Web site, or a third party at the exit that could scan your receipt and have you validate your choices. It should be implemented by another vendor than Diebold (due to it being an open standard) and work like a Credit Card machine. The print-out could be in three pieces (cut 99% of the way allowing you to tear off the final bit if you choose) so that your ID, voting record ID, and the actual voting record would be all separate.
As you walk out, the UN (or similar) could scan your bar code, validate with you that those were the right selections, and you could go an about your day. Or you could do it from home or the library.
This way, if the UN / third party gets an appreciably different count than the "official" count, an investigation could be spawned immediately.
To me, there is no good way to ensure that the link between the printer and the database is exact in software (i.e. write one value to the database, print out something else). An external procedure is needed, and must be based on a standard that it could be implemented by a third party.
I don't care if someone records my actual votes, as long as it isn't tied back to my actual vote instance or my identity. However, I want to ensure that:
Those are separate, but related tasks. Heck, if you did it right, I could vote at home, print it, walk in, scan it, and walk out.
What do you think?
TTFN
- Your Voter record number
- Your Voter ID
- Your Votes as cast
It would seem that you could have a Web site, or a third party at the exit that could scan your receipt and have you validate your choices. It should be implemented by another vendor than Diebold (due to it being an open standard) and work like a Credit Card machine. The print-out could be in three pieces (cut 99% of the way allowing you to tear off the final bit if you choose) so that your ID, voting record ID, and the actual voting record would be all separate. As you walk out, the UN (or similar) could scan your bar code, validate with you that those were the right selections, and you could go an about your day. Or you could do it from home or the library. This way, if the UN / third party gets an appreciably different count than the "official" count, an investigation could be spawned immediately. To me, there is no good way to ensure that the link between the printer and the database is exact in software (i.e. write one value to the database, print out something else). An external procedure is needed, and must be based on a standard that it could be implemented by a third party. I don't care if someone records my actual votes, as long as it isn't tied back to my actual vote instance or my identity. However, I want to ensure that:- My votes were recorded correctly
- My actual vote was counted
- My voter info is correct
Those are separate, but related tasks. Heck, if you did it right, I could vote at home, print it, walk in, scan it, and walk out. What do you think? TTFNYeah, but is there amy study of coffee's LD50? Maybe that's what Starbucks is up to! ;-)
I've found that I like drinking Yerba Mate better. It's supposed to be better for you and a study has been done about it (requires submission to their marketing machine to get the PDF - they haven't called me yet). Some of the results appear to have been lifted by one of this company's competitors. Don't buy into the "mateine vs. caffeine" BS... Mate has caffeine.
What it doesn't have is all the other odd compounds that coffee has. I read once that the reason coffee gives you the jitters and keeps you more dependent is not solely due to the caffeine - it also involves all the other organic compounds found in your average cuppa joe.
You can more easily experiment with a variety you can find in Trader Joe's called Guayaki. They make both bagged and loose varieties. The bagged isn't as good as the loose, but it's easier to manage. The brand I've been using lately is from Aviva.
It's an acquired taste, and the history is unique (plus you can drink it in the traditional social way and wow your co-workers with the perephernalia). Next time you go to a Latin American grocery store (or Ashland, OR, or Santa Cruz, CA) you will see a wide variety of the South American brands... it's so common down there that some brands put pictures of missing children on the packages (like we do with milk cartons) - which is a sad, but interesting, social study.
I've been drinking it solely for 8 years now. Does it make you more healthy? Not sure... my migraines have not gone away, but didn't get worse. I've had something similar to the stomach flu once during the past 8 years (I contend it was food related). No other sicknesses. Even when my wife is fevered and hacking up a lung next to me. Maybe there's something to it, maybe not... but I didn't like being dependent on coffee.
TTFN
The SVG engine doesn't appear to render the SVG files my company produces. I will try to do some more testing, but our files render in Adobe SVG Viewer, Corel SVG Viewer, FrameMaker, Illustrator, and Mozilla's old SVG build from ages ago. The DOM only works so far in Adobe's SVG Viewer (we adhere to the SVG spec, but everyone's viewer interprets the SVG standard a bit differently).
We really require the DOM to make our SVG's function, but I can't get that far into Firefox's SVG capabilities to see if it is possible to make it work.
It would be nice to have another environment as an option, especially since Microsoft is mostly concerned with XAML and VML currently. SVG doesn't appear to be on their list of things to do.
TTFN
To try out a Dvorak layout I took a decent, regular Dell keyboard and rearranged the keys. This isn't quite as trivial as I had initially expected because the "home keys" in the QWERTY layout had a tab on them that was unique to the receptacle.
A little filing and the keyboard works well enough for the experiment. The keys are slightly disoriented due to being specifically maufactured for the QWERTY layout (after rearrangement, the key heights are inconsistent). Incidentally, the only key that stays in the same place is the "a" so you'll type words like "avalanche" much faster than other words. Aardvark isn't as easy as you might think.
This is Week 3 of the switch. I type solely Dvorak at work and QWERTY everywhere else.
I don't have a problem going back to QWERTY right now, and my Dvorak abilities are getting better. I still have problems with the m, w, and n keys. I wish that w and m were further apart.
My observations so far:
If you use Windows, be sure to set up a hotkey to toggle back and forth between Dvorak and QWERTY for 2 reasons:
1. Windows doesn't always remember a global setting for the keyboard and so many of your first sentences will llok like this:
Jg kjdod! Js, aod tsf hsglu{
I've sent many an instant message like that.
Reason 2: If you have a laptop, and you set it permanently to Dvorak, you might have some issues typing your password (unless you rearrange your keys... not recommended and potentially not possible). You could get yourself locked out from your system in a hurry.
My impressions so far:
I'm not a programmer, but I do write about technology all day. Acronyms and tech speak are not any easier on Dvorak vs. QWERTY. TLA's with "obscure" letters in them might be harder to type. Dvorak is based on common words in English... most technology isn't concerned with the common words that Dvorak was anticipating.
Plain English like you would write to your parents or other normal person who thinks Dvorak is a composer rather than a keyboard or tech columnist is "easier" than QWERTY. I put that in quotes because, until I get faster, nothing is "easy" yet. But words like: through, this, that, the, should, numbnuts, etc. are easy to type.
Instant messaging is very hard. People ask you if you're on the phone or if they should bug you later due to the time it takes you to compose a sentence. Typo's are totally foreign. You get a lot more vowel substitution in this layout than in QWERTY.
Comedy through instant messaging is very hard because you can't "carpe momentum*" (*not latin), or "sieze a moment's opportumity to type something funny as a reply before you victim can type back at you."
You get a lot of time to ponder your messages while you hunt and peck for keys. All the while, you think to yourself "is there an easier way to type that?" "Maybe I can use a word with less j's in it..."
It also will make you think about using mouse gestures and keyboard shortcuts (CTRL-S, C, X, V, and Z are no longer convenient). I have reverted to CTRL-Ins. / Shift-Ins. for copy / paste. You also begin to consider the merits of training Word to use Auto Complete intelligently (or at least moreso).
Overall, it's a flashback to the year you first struggled to touch type... for me that's 4-6th grade. That wasn't pleasant in general, but typing papers was excruciating in Fleet System 3 and later GEOS on the C=64, mostly due to learning to type. You gain a new appreciation of how nimble you are on the QWERTY keyboard and how fluid the expression of your thoughts actually is.
Going from 80-100 WPM on QWERTY down to 10 WPM (now maybe about 20 WPM) has been an interesting experience. I've not lost productivity necessarily, but my emails have become more terse and people think there's something wrong with me (more than usual) when I IM them.
Oddly enough, one of the hardest things to type is QWERTY...
Good luck!
TTFN... not switching back yet...
(about 18 WPM on this post)
Actually, I got a personal briefing last week from Microsoft officials about the new file format.
.ZIP) and extract the good XML parts? Everything is "normalized" in these files, so individual slides in PowerPoint are XML files, sheets in Excel and XML files, styles are XML files, comments and reviewing marks are XML files (so removing all comments is a file operation now instead of a macro that you HOPE expunged all those nasty little comments you made in the document).
The new open format is a very good thing. To some it's too little, too late, but there are many advantages to opening the file format that aren't being explored here. We should note that the new XML is nothing like the 2003 XML.
How about making content management easier? With the new XML format, you can make sections of a document available for revision. You can apply custom style sheets and schemas to the document.
How about letting document segments take part in external business processes? If you apply a schema to a document, tag it with some meta-data, you can then extract a section for, say, an electronic signature, and then attach the new information easily to the document and continue about your business process.
The option for customer companies and ISV's to take advantage of what used to be content in a monolithic file format is quite tantilizing when you're trying to make visibility a key objective in a business. There are bits of documents that are really useful to different audiences and roles in an organization, but delivering a whole document to them and making them pick it apart isn't the best option. Chopping it up for them beforehand implies that you know all the questions they are going to ask in advance. The new format allows a more dynamic document experience (with some data-driven prodding from external databases or business systems and the appropriate schema inside the document).
There are other improvements in Office that will allow external applications to play with the content more easily. Rendering several file formats based on an XSLT now becomes possible. So a Word doc could go to a custom HTML template, perhaps a PDF, or some other custom XML document spec for use between joint-venture organizations.
What about the fact that if your file gets screwed up, you might be able to crack open the Zip file (just rename the DOCX, PPTX, or XLSX file to
So imagine, if a document is broken up like this, how it can be absorbed more easily by a database. Now imagine indexing the content - then think of the advent of WinFS where SQL Server is built-into your NTFS file system. I didn't hear any plans about this, but the extrapolation potential is pretty interesting. I know I spend lots of time looking for crap inside documents, as well as the location of documents.
So I think it's more than OOo compatibility when it comes to businesses, and I think there is a greater push to make this openness come true than file compatibility with competitive office suite products.
I know our company will benefit from it.
TTFN
Exactly right.
We need a third party system that scans the receipt as the voter leaves the polling place and re-records their vote.
This machine could run the publicly available source code etc. and could even be run by an external body (non-proft org, the UN, the EU, whatever).
The totals would have to match 100%. If an ATM can do 100% accuracy, why can't our voting machines?
TTFN
I agree, there are errors in plays - the text and the staging - all the time. That's why actors and directors have "text work" where they examine the script in detail and find problems. That's why dramaturgs exist. It's ultimately up to a director to fix them. Actors can't possibly cover everything up, but they are a part of the solution.
What I'm saying is that if you have $20 to $150 million dollars, you might be able to pay a couple people to watch for consistency. Sort of like QA for software. Or is that a bad analogy!
However, it is an interesting dichotomy that you construct when you accuse a community that tries to support an activity as elitist.
The problem today is that people are becoming more disconnected. They guy you cut off on the freeway because you're late to Starbucks, the guy with the lame bumper stickers that make you angry are all easier to pick on when you don't have to interact with them. Movies, the Internet, and technology like iPods all help us disconnect from one another and make perpetuating self-centered behavior easy and regret-free.
I think that our worship of commerce has caused theatre to become "elite" by driving up the price. This is sad. I see better theatre for $10 to $25 than most any movie I can think of (indie or not). I also find that expensive theatre doesn't equal quality.
As for acting and writing... well, we've rewarded bad writing with patronizing reality TV. Great acting is possible, but it has to have direction. Like you said, 95% of movies and other media are crap. The problem is that a lot more crap gets to the box office and a large number of remarkable theatre and books goes unnoticed by the public.
It all comes to attention for detail. Film is in love with the technology... special effects, cameras, lighting, sound effects etc. They don't tell the story.
My point is that they can afford to, and they piss away the opportunity and produce more crap because we're all so cowed into accepting substandard production.
Thanks for the debate though!
TTFN
Yes, however when you have lots and LOTS of money, you hire a team of people before and after the shoot that do "consistency" editing and checking.
Good movies that seem to have everything covered have a team of people dedicated to ensuring that between shots costumes, hair, make-up, injuries, sets etc. are all continuous for the audience.
SoapBox Mode On:
This is one of the drawbacks of shooting things out of order. Another drawback is that because so much emphasis is placed on the "shot" that the "acting" goes out the window. Directors spend very little time (I am speaking on average here) with the "talent" and leave most actors to their own devices. Without clear direction, only the strongest actors can pull off a great performance, and to me, that makes or breaks a film. Even a crappy story can be made better with great acting. Writing is also out the window these days, but I digress...
Consistency errors are inexcusible. This is why I watch plays more than movies. Movies, like software in many ways, are rushed to market to capitalize on money and sacrifice quality. This is my opinion.
That said, I've seen a lot of crap plays as well. However, I would rather see a questionable play where actors are with me, in the room, baring their hearts to the audience, than a movie with all the budget in the world and little concern for the actors on screen or the audience in the seats.
If you watch most press tours about a movie, most of the statements are plattitudes about the cast and a focus on how they "pulled it off" just in time. This sort of thing is OK for indie films and small-house theatre, but big-budget productions have no excuse for this.
Critics let them get away with it. Maybe not the internet based critics, but people published in magazines and newspapers give you plot summary, some acting notes, and little else. It's like a book report for 3rd grade. This is true in theatre too. My suggestion to anyone going to theatre is to learn about the production, if the story interests you, go! The critic most likely saw it on opening night and the show has evolved since then.
With movies you get what you pay for - check your brain at the door and go.
With theatre, bring your brain, turn off your cell phone, and unwrap your hard candy before curtain. Be prepared to be transformed.
With both, you don't always get what you pay for... big ticket prices for theatre do no automatically mean you should give them a Standing Ovation. Movies are generally the same price, but if you compare production budgets, I think the same holds true.
Sure, I'm biased... I've acted for many years, am married to an up-and-coming actor/actress (depending on the role), and many friends are actors on both stage and screen. I value the contribution of a well-made movie, but seldom see one. I think that plays build a community because each audience is together for one moment in history that can't be repeated. The drama is both on stage and in the story, and that story is shared with an audience every night.
Support your local theatre and put the humanity back in humans.
SoapBox Mode Off
TTFN
Driving styles totally impact the mileage with hybrids. We have the Honda Civic Hybrid and when I drive I get about 41-44 MPG with combined highway and city driving. We live in a very hilly area, so we probably tax the gas engine quite a bit compared to if we lived in a relatively flat area.
When my wife drives, she gets about 38 miles per gallon consistently. The strange part is that I drive faster than she does. However, I think I "optimize" for the hybrid more. I ensure that I roll as much as possible with the engine off, I take off slower from stops (usually), and I try to keep the engine RPM below a certain level.
We also noticed that if you accidentally un-seat the gas cap a bit you can get better mileage. Something about the fuel pressure putting less fuel in the engine. It was good for about 3-4 more MPG.
TTFN
My friends on the Atkins diet have breath that smells just like what I would expect the T-Rex's to smell like...
ewww...
TTFN
We'll get ourselves some gnomes...
Step 1: Steal poop
Step 2:
Step 3: Profit!
I think this guy just found out what Step 2 is! Or at least, it involves #2.
TTFN