You said it, sister! The best way to protest the system is to drop out completely, therefore giving them TOTAL control over you (because you no longer have a say). Of course, you still have to live in their society under their laws...you just won't have a vote in the matter.
The bizarre decision to include child versions of all of the original characters is what bothers me. In case you haven't heard, Boba Fett is apparently going to be in Episode 2 - as a child (that kid you see in the supposed storyboards is supposed to be little Boba).
Most of these characters were clearly supposed to be meeting for the first time in the original trilogy. C3PO, when he crash landed on tatooine gave no indication he had ever been there before... even though it turns out now that's his 'birthplace.'
All this makes the new films feel like a cheap spinoff of the original films, instead of an expanded look into the SW universe. Are we going to see a young Han Solo in this one? Lando as a toddler? A tadpole version of that little frog that Jabba ate in ROTJ?
Why does he need to spread disinformation when the disinformation spreads itself? The storyboards are most likely fake and probably the work of some lonely fan. Yet look at how the fanboys jumped on it...
Actually, in the world of video games this is THE MOST effective marketing technique. You get the stories on the evening news showing parents lined up out the door to get one of the few PS2's... you see a story about some guy who paid $1,200 for one at an auction... it creates hype, excitement.
Nintendo did this beautifully with the N64 in 1996; it became THE HOT TOY that holiday season (actually second, next to the even-harder-to-find Tickle-Me-Elmo's) for one reason and one reason only: limited supply (see the law of Supply and Demand for details). Ten years earlier, when all the buzz was about some game called Zelda that everyone was excited about, they announced a chip shortage that would limit supply. The people standing in line for the post-shortage supply were legion.
By the way, it later turned out Nintendo invented the chip shortage story. Yes, it does work. Don't be surprised when Nintendo does the same thing with GameCube, and MS does it again with X-Box.
...is that convenient handle on the back. Think about how this ability to carry the console around with you - with one hand, mind you - will revolutionize gaming.
Most gaming experts agree the greatest weakness of the playstation and the Dreamcast is immobility. For instance, my family used to live in Ohio. When we moved a year ago, we had to leave my Playstation behind. Why? It doesn't have a handle. The movers just stood there, staring at it, saying "I'm sorry sir, I just don't see a place to grab the thing."
I know Microsoft is still working on their X-box design, but even if they started now I doubt they could develop a workable handle for their machine by next fall, as Nintendo is believed to have a 2-year lead in plastic handle technology.
I also resent the "closed as the NSA" comment. I've been a field operative in the NSA for over 15 years. We've always had open and fair hiring practices; and we do not discriminate either in our personnel decisions or in our choice of surveillance targets. Just last week I had to arrange for the assassinations of both a WHITE MALE CEO and an elderly LATINO WOMAN who simply knew too much. Is that discrimination? Hardly. Secretive? Yes, but only to the extent that it was necessary for a successful operation.
And Katz, if you choose to criticize the NSA any further, we may choose to release some photos the readers (and your employers) may find very interesting.
The NSA: Keeping you in the dark for your own good.
If neither splits, then there simply aren't enough truly independent votes to win major office
Right, and to expand that to a larger point, it's that there simply isn't enough dissatisfaction with the way things are to make that kind of a movement. Many, many people depend on the status quo - and I'm not talking about just politicians and big oil companies. Millions of us do. Most of us do.
There's a reason why we vote for the same old thing every four years: it's because we like it. The vocal Rage-Against-The-Machine extremists who want to bring the current system down are very, very small in number. And why not? The overwhelming majority of us are well-fed, have homes to live in, cars to drive, clothes to wear, and cable TV to watch. We may complain, but who wants to mess with all that? Who really?
Or, at least, most citizens do. Will nation-states ever go away when millions DEPEND on them for survival? How many people in the USA live on social security and public aid checks? How many families depend on a military paycheck? How many people work at companies with government contracts? How many of us drive on federal highways?
It's a bunch of fun for a crowd of (young) free thinkers to predict the downfall of the huge governments. It's not so easy for the 90% of us who DON'T WANT the government to go away - no matter how much we may complain about it. And as true as that is in the US, it's more true in European countries where even more citizens are dependent on the government.
The government doesn't exist on its own. We put it there, and we keep it there year after year (and keep it growing) by saying 'yes' every time they propose a new payout program.
In other words, there's a reason why Liberterians only get 3% of the vote.
...from the Terminator films? If you want a chilling look into the so-called 'information society of the future,' there it is.
Neither the nation-states nor the corporations will rule us: the machines will. Our only hope is that the ragged human resistance from the year 2130 will send someone back in time to take out Jon Katz, and thus change the course of history.
-David Wong
Excuse me, but since when has Microsoft been known for cranking out world class HARDWARE? The only M$ hardware devices I've ever bought was an overpriced mouse and my sidewinder game pad thing (though I guess the mouse did work okay). Now everyone assumes they can design and build a world class minicomputer that'll blow away these game companies who are on their 2nd-4th generation machines?
Aren't game machines all about making an outstanding piece of hardware that the developers can work with? What does MicroSoft know about doing that? Sony had been in the electronics market for decades, and still partnered with Nintendo to come up with the PSX design. Sega and Nintendo both had experience from their upright game machine days when they got into the home market. What has microsoft done?
It is hard as hell to jump into this market cold (especially where brand loyalty plays such a big part). Just ask NEC (Turbografx 16) and Phillips (CD-i) and EA/Panasonic (3DO) and so on. How much will Mr. Gates lose on this before he just decides to dump it?
The good news is that here in the midwest tickets are $6.00 for evening shows and $4.00 for a matinee.
The bad news is that I live in the midwest.
In fact, I think if I was gonna pay $8.00 - $9.00 for a ticket the film had better be damned good. AS it is, you can't get too upset about a film you only paid $4.00 to see.
It's also helpful to remember that the screenplay for this movie went through a BUNCH of rewrites.
As many as nine different screenwriters worked over scenes (including the Usual Suspects writer Christopher McQuarrie - surprised he didn't try to slap a surprise ending onto the thing). Point being, if it feels like something is missing, there are many, many stages where it could have been lost. Any time you hear about a script getting worked over that much you usually assume it is a bad movie. Here I think Singer overcame all of that, being the director that he is, and in two hours pieced together the world that the comic had years to build.
...The movie's already 1:40 long. I personally think 2:25 is wayyyyy too long for a superhero movie.
Remember, they intentionally went for a PG-13 rating to get the kids in there (yes, some comic book fans are children). You can't get kids to sit through a 2.5 hour movie, no matter how good the character deveopment is... so it wouldn't surprise me if Singer turned in a much longer cut and they made him trim it. And of course you cut the character/background stuff - and not those expensive effects sequences. That's just the way it works.
Actually, the studio spent about $70 million on the X-Men production, and another $30-40 million on promotion and other costs. That's the bad news for the studio.
The good news is that the film should bring in a total of $180-200 million in the states, figure about $400 million worldwide (all that based on this weekend's numbers). The film will be quite profitable - and there will definitely be sequels. So...
Based on this why then do the DVD producers get such a bug up their arses about copy protection, encryption, and making reverse engineering illegal?
Because 70% of the films they make lose money. Warner Bros. spent $250 million on Batman and Robin, and only made about half of that back. A couple of years later they spent $220 million filming Wild Wild West and only made $100 million back. Therefore, they squeeze all the money they can from their successful films to pay for the stinky ones.
Also, the people in charge of the studios, and most American corporations, rarely take the humanistic view that "okay, we've made enough money from this project. Let's give it away for free now!" Those few companies that do that usually go bankrupt within a week or so.
That $58 million take represents the fourth-highest opening in movie history. To put that dollar amount into perspective, imagine a stack of apples, one for each dollar the movie made.
I'd say the most important factor in Google.com's growth is the fact that if you enter "Farting Sounds" as your search term, you get my web page as both the second AND third results.
Over a billion pages... and two of the top three "farting sounds" pages are mine.
Well. I can't think of a single reason for me to go on living.
I've heard many countries are already doing away with conventional weapons, and are carrying out border disputes via massive games of Unreal Tournament and Quake III.
It really has eliminated much of the waiting and inconvenience we get with today's warfare, though it's not completey fair because the countries with broadband connections are winning almost every conflict.
Also, I've heard that Iraq is getting a reputation for just hiding out in one shadowy corner and blasting people as they go by.
You make a series of valid points, but how will we protect people who use these online services against hackers and scam artists? Before we go off on some pipe dream of an online government, we should think security first.
"...Not only does eyeguard alert the network administrator, but it also disables the computer and takes a snapshot of the suspect image.."
My boss has installed this software, and is now forcing the entire office to surf for porn. These "snapshots" are sent directly to his hard drive, which is saving him the time of having to sift through thousands of non-porn pictures to get the ones he wants. Thanks to this software and the snapshot feature, my boss is able to accumulate pornographic images at 10X his previous efficiency.
Slashdot Mirror
You said it, sister! The best way to protest the system is to drop out completely, therefore giving them TOTAL control over you (because you no longer have a say). Of course, you still have to live in their society under their laws...you just won't have a vote in the matter.
Good thinking.
The bizarre decision to include child versions of all of the original characters is what bothers me. In case you haven't heard, Boba Fett is apparently going to be in Episode 2 - as a child (that kid you see in the supposed storyboards is supposed to be little Boba).
Most of these characters were clearly supposed to be meeting for the first time in the original trilogy. C3PO, when he crash landed on tatooine gave no indication he had ever been there before... even though it turns out now that's his 'birthplace.'
All this makes the new films feel like a cheap spinoff of the original films, instead of an expanded look into the SW universe. Are we going to see a young Han Solo in this one? Lando as a toddler? A tadpole version of that little frog that Jabba ate in ROTJ?
Why does he need to spread disinformation when the disinformation spreads itself? The storyboards are most likely fake and probably the work of some lonely fan. Yet look at how the fanboys jumped on it...
I knew I shouldn't have skipped those first ten grades of public school...
Some of them are HERE.
It's nothing to get too worked up about. I think they're fakes anyway... which makes it fit right in with the rest of my site.
Actually, in the world of video games this is THE MOST effective marketing technique. You get the stories on the evening news showing parents lined up out the door to get one of the few PS2's... you see a story about some guy who paid $1,200 for one at an auction... it creates hype, excitement.
Nintendo did this beautifully with the N64 in 1996; it became THE HOT TOY that holiday season (actually second, next to the even-harder-to-find Tickle-Me-Elmo's) for one reason and one reason only: limited supply (see the law of Supply and Demand for details). Ten years earlier, when all the buzz was about some game called Zelda that everyone was excited about, they announced a chip shortage that would limit supply. The people standing in line for the post-shortage supply were legion.
By the way, it later turned out Nintendo invented the chip shortage story. Yes, it does work. Don't be surprised when Nintendo does the same thing with GameCube, and MS does it again with X-Box.
Most gaming experts agree the greatest weakness of the playstation and the Dreamcast is immobility. For instance, my family used to live in Ohio. When we moved a year ago, we had to leave my Playstation behind. Why? It doesn't have a handle. The movers just stood there, staring at it, saying "I'm sorry sir, I just don't see a place to grab the thing."
I know Microsoft is still working on their X-box design, but even if they started now I doubt they could develop a workable handle for their machine by next fall, as Nintendo is believed to have a 2-year lead in plastic handle technology.
I also resent the "closed as the NSA" comment. I've been a field operative in the NSA for over 15 years. We've always had open and fair hiring practices; and we do not discriminate either in our personnel decisions or in our choice of surveillance targets. Just last week I had to arrange for the assassinations of both a WHITE MALE CEO and an elderly LATINO WOMAN who simply knew too much. Is that discrimination? Hardly. Secretive? Yes, but only to the extent that it was necessary for a successful operation.
And Katz, if you choose to criticize the NSA any further, we may choose to release some photos the readers (and your employers) may find very interesting.
The NSA: Keeping you in the dark for your own good.
-David
If neither splits, then there simply aren't enough truly independent votes to win major office
Right, and to expand that to a larger point, it's that there simply isn't enough dissatisfaction with the way things are to make that kind of a movement. Many, many people depend on the status quo - and I'm not talking about just politicians and big oil companies. Millions of us do. Most of us do.
There's a reason why we vote for the same old thing every four years: it's because we like it. The vocal Rage-Against-The-Machine extremists who want to bring the current system down are very, very small in number. And why not? The overwhelming majority of us are well-fed, have homes to live in, cars to drive, clothes to wear, and cable TV to watch. We may complain, but who wants to mess with all that? Who really?
-David Wong
Or, at least, most citizens do. Will nation-states ever go away when millions DEPEND on them for survival? How many people in the USA live on social security and public aid checks? How many families depend on a military paycheck? How many people work at companies with government contracts? How many of us drive on federal highways?
It's a bunch of fun for a crowd of (young) free thinkers to predict the downfall of the huge governments. It's not so easy for the 90% of us who DON'T WANT the government to go away - no matter how much we may complain about it. And as true as that is in the US, it's more true in European countries where even more citizens are dependent on the government.
The government doesn't exist on its own. We put it there, and we keep it there year after year (and keep it growing) by saying 'yes' every time they propose a new payout program.
In other words, there's a reason why Liberterians only get 3% of the vote.
-David
...from the Terminator films? If you want a chilling look into the so-called 'information society of the future,' there it is.
Neither the nation-states nor the corporations will rule us: the machines will. Our only hope is that the ragged human resistance from the year 2130 will send someone back in time to take out Jon Katz, and thus change the course of history.
-David Wong
Excuse me, but since when has Microsoft been known for cranking out world class HARDWARE? The only M$ hardware devices I've ever bought was an overpriced mouse and my sidewinder game pad thing (though I guess the mouse did work okay). Now everyone assumes they can design and build a world class minicomputer that'll blow away these game companies who are on their 2nd-4th generation machines?
Aren't game machines all about making an outstanding piece of hardware that the developers can work with? What does MicroSoft know about doing that? Sony had been in the electronics market for decades, and still partnered with Nintendo to come up with the PSX design. Sega and Nintendo both had experience from their upright game machine days when they got into the home market. What has microsoft done?
It is hard as hell to jump into this market cold (especially where brand loyalty plays such a big part). Just ask NEC (Turbografx 16) and Phillips (CD-i) and EA/Panasonic (3DO) and so on. How much will Mr. Gates lose on this before he just decides to dump it?
David Wong
The good news is that here in the midwest tickets are $6.00 for evening shows and $4.00 for a matinee.
The bad news is that I live in the midwest.
In fact, I think if I was gonna pay $8.00 - $9.00 for a ticket the film had better be damned good. AS it is, you can't get too upset about a film you only paid $4.00 to see.
(okay, so I'm cheap)
It's also helpful to remember that the screenplay for this movie went through a BUNCH of rewrites.
As many as nine different screenwriters worked over scenes (including the Usual Suspects writer Christopher McQuarrie - surprised he didn't try to slap a surprise ending onto the thing). Point being, if it feels like something is missing, there are many, many stages where it could have been lost. Any time you hear about a script getting worked over that much you usually assume it is a bad movie. Here I think Singer overcame all of that, being the director that he is, and in two hours pieced together the world that the comic had years to build.
X-Men, or X-crement?
...The movie's already 1:40 long. I personally think 2:25 is wayyyyy too long for a superhero movie.
Remember, they intentionally went for a PG-13 rating to get the kids in there (yes, some comic book fans are children). You can't get kids to sit through a 2.5 hour movie, no matter how good the character deveopment is... so it wouldn't surprise me if Singer turned in a much longer cut and they made him trim it. And of course you cut the character/background stuff - and not those expensive effects sequences. That's just the way it works.
Actually, the studio spent about $70 million on the X-Men production, and another $30-40 million on promotion and other costs. That's the bad news for the studio.
The good news is that the film should bring in a total of $180-200 million in the states, figure about $400 million worldwide (all that based on this weekend's numbers). The film will be quite profitable - and there will definitely be sequels. So...
Based on this why then do the DVD producers get such a bug up their arses about copy protection, encryption, and making reverse engineering illegal?
Because 70% of the films they make lose money. Warner Bros. spent $250 million on Batman and Robin, and only made about half of that back. A couple of years later they spent $220 million filming Wild Wild West and only made $100 million back. Therefore, they squeeze all the money they can from their successful films to pay for the stinky ones.
Also, the people in charge of the studios, and most American corporations, rarely take the humanistic view that "okay, we've made enough money from this project. Let's give it away for free now!" Those few companies that do that usually go bankrupt within a week or so.
The definitive X-Men Review
That $58 million take represents the fourth-highest opening in movie history. To put that dollar amount into perspective, imagine a stack of apples, one for each dollar the movie made.
That stack would be 58 million apples high.
Boggles the mind, doesn't it?
The proof is HERE. It's on the internet, so it has to be true, right?
A certain webmaster has gotten into a little trouble over this one...but there are eight pages of the Star Wars Episode 2 screenplay HERE.
I assumed they were fake at first, but the reaction from Fox 2000 makes me think otherwise. Judge for yourself.
Do you know where I could find the troll homepage? I've been looking and looking for it.
Actually, I don't see a single reason why this can't be done, according to the research I've done by watching hours and hours of cartoons.
My findings show that one of the most popular techniques involves using a giant slingshot.
I'd say the most important factor in Google.com's growth is the fact that if you enter "Farting Sounds" as your search term, you get my web page as both the second AND third results.
Over a billion pages... and two of the top three "farting sounds" pages are mine.
Well. I can't think of a single reason for me to go on living.
I've heard many countries are already doing away with conventional weapons, and are carrying out border disputes via massive games of Unreal Tournament and Quake III.
It really has eliminated much of the waiting and inconvenience we get with today's warfare, though it's not completey fair because the countries with broadband connections are winning almost every conflict.
Also, I've heard that Iraq is getting a reputation for just hiding out in one shadowy corner and blasting people as they go by.
You make a series of valid points, but how will we protect people who use these online services against hackers and scam artists? Before we go off on some pipe dream of an online government, we should think security first.
"...Not only does eyeguard alert the network administrator, but it also disables the computer and takes a snapshot of the suspect image.."
My boss has installed this software, and is now forcing the entire office to surf for porn. These "snapshots" are sent directly to his hard drive, which is saving him the time of having to sift through thousands of non-porn pictures to get the ones he wants. Thanks to this software and the snapshot feature, my boss is able to accumulate pornographic images at 10X his previous efficiency.
Eye-T, Mr. Wilkerson thanks you.