To be fair to Ebert, at the time Spider-Man 2 came out, it probably WAS by far the best movie of 2004. (Remember, it came out in May, and when's the last time a good movie came out between January and May?)
Do not expect this process to be simple or fast. It will involve a lot of red tape and it will take a while (probably a few weeks unless you're EXTREMELY well-prepared for the fone call). However, it's better than having to explain to the FBI, local police, and FAA why you decided to launch a large balloon to a ridiculous altitude without their permission or knowledge.
I'm pretty sure you've just thoroughly confused relativity with Newtonian mechanics, but I don't have a strong enough grasp on relativity myself to give you a good reason why.
I think you're interpreting his meaning incorrectly. He isn't saying that lesser-known directors/filmmakers can't be creative, but I think what he is saying is that his massive successes have allowed him carte blanche with his ideas. Spielberg is another one who comes to mind as far as getting a blank check for anything he wants to do. Peter Jackson's work on LotR has given him nearly the same ability.
It's a very rare luxury in modern Hollywood to be able to do pretty much whatever you want with film and get it distributed. That's what Lucas has achieved for himself. Whether that's a good or bad thing for the rest of us, well...
I agree with you that the article summary could have been better written, but then again, that describes 90% of the summaries on Slashdot.
However, disagreeing with a company's immoral, unethical, and illegal business practises is a perfectly valid reason not to use that company's products. It's called a boycott, and the technique dates from long before the Internet, or even computers.
I'm more than willing to sacrifice some functionality for my beliefs*. You have to think that's at least part of the reason Linux is as popular as it is, because I don't think anyone is going to argue that it's easier to use than Windows.
*Not saying Firefox users are really sacrificing anything; with the way things are now, it's the IE users who are sacrificing. Unfortunately, most of them don't know it yet.
Anyone who is a professional or specialist in anything can be driven crazy by how it's portrayed in entertainment.
You mean like how Lucy Lawless and her colleague boarded a Citation, were shown en route in a Falcon 2000 (or maybe a 900), landed in a Gulfstream III, and then disembarked from another Citation in Locusts?
Yeah. I can't watch stuff like that ever since I started flying.
Numb3rs is pretty good, though. I've caught a few little goofs but nothing nearly as bad as that pieced-together stock footage in Locusts.
The problem is none of 'em are made properly. Fire axes -- I haven't seen the emergency hammers on trains, but I'm assuming they're similar -- and any good quality tool-type hammers are made with forged or cast metal heads and a nice heavy-duty shaft.
These useless "emergency escape hammers" for cars are plastic, with a little metal tip on one end of the head (like that's going to break something). They wouldn't survive if a car ran over them, much less break a window and allow you to escape from a sinking car.
Of course, even if you HAVE a good window-breaking device, breaking the window may or may not be the best solution to escaping the car. They had an accompanying article about a Dutch school that teaches underwater vehicle escape, a key skill in Holland, where there are lots of canals that run alongside roads. Breaking the window isn't always the best thing to do.
Or, more likely, Apple hasn't seen fit to document the calls yet. Not to excuse their laziness, but it seems like Apple gets around to documenting things much less quickly than they used to. Frankly, I suspect that even after nearly five years of OS X, they're still playing a bit of catch-up with the documentation.
Because it's a million times easier to invent new distractions than it is to make a car that drives itself over our horribly irregular (from a machine standpoint) network of roads.
Even having a car that drives itself on four-lane divided highways is beyond the reach of reasonable current technology. Don't even think about doing it in city traffic!
Sad, I know, but it's not as though no one's tried.
No offence -- and this is coming from someone who has spent years convincing people that System 7.5 on anything short of a Power Mac is a bad idea, so I know of what you speak with regard to newer OSes on ancient hardware -- but that iMac would be doing a lot better if you weren't choking it to death with practically no RAM.
My old Wallstreet does just fine with 10.2.x, notwithstanding the very slow 4 MB Rage II graphics chipset it has. Of course, it has twice as much RAM as that iMac.
Now to address your real point: why do you think I put "leading brand" in quotes? The "leading brand" in commercials is almost never really the brand with the most market share. It's simply one or more high-profile competitors. Geesh. Lighten up a notch or two, and enjoy your weekly dose of Thurrott. Slashdot is obviously too sophisticated for you.
Slashdot Mirror
To be fair to Ebert, at the time Spider-Man 2 came out, it probably WAS by far the best movie of 2004. (Remember, it came out in May, and when's the last time a good movie came out between January and May?)
p
Ask, and ye shall receive.
p
What percentage of Slashdotters have seen Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead ?
p
*smack*
Judy!
For the record, so did Rob Enderle.
Which basically gives me full confidence that Apple will NOT be announcing a switch to x86 architecture on Monday.
p
Key phrase there (emphasis added):
"...so I put Fedora...on their computer"
While they probably don't want to, they could have installed or upgraded Windows without your help.
The same does not apply to Linux, unfortunately.
Computers in general are too complicated these days.
p
"Lead to Darwin Awards, the path of stupidity does."
p
In Soviet Russia, I'd rather know how I can meet Natalie Portman's ends.
p
Here's a start.
Contact your local Flight Standards District Office for a Special Flight Permit.
Do not expect this process to be simple or fast. It will involve a lot of red tape and it will take a while (probably a few weeks unless you're EXTREMELY well-prepared for the fone call). However, it's better than having to explain to the FBI, local police, and FAA why you decided to launch a large balloon to a ridiculous altitude without their permission or knowledge.
p
I'm pretty sure you've just thoroughly confused relativity with Newtonian mechanics, but I don't have a strong enough grasp on relativity myself to give you a good reason why.
Perhaps someone else can.
p
There's more than a little pun in your choice of words there, but I'm betting you're not Australian and it wasn't intentional. :)
Let's just say there might be some "rooting" in prison after these guys get sentenced.
p
using an non-Widnows OS isn't really "the answer"
Sure it is.
The problem lies in convincing the People Who Decide(tm) that there are real alternatives.
p
I think you're interpreting his meaning incorrectly. He isn't saying that lesser-known directors/filmmakers can't be creative, but I think what he is saying is that his massive successes have allowed him carte blanche with his ideas. Spielberg is another one who comes to mind as far as getting a blank check for anything he wants to do. Peter Jackson's work on LotR has given him nearly the same ability.
It's a very rare luxury in modern Hollywood to be able to do pretty much whatever you want with film and get it distributed. That's what Lucas has achieved for himself. Whether that's a good or bad thing for the rest of us, well...
p
I agree with you that the article summary could have been better written, but then again, that describes 90% of the summaries on Slashdot.
However, disagreeing with a company's immoral, unethical, and illegal business practises is a perfectly valid reason not to use that company's products. It's called a boycott, and the technique dates from long before the Internet, or even computers.
I'm more than willing to sacrifice some functionality for my beliefs*. You have to think that's at least part of the reason Linux is as popular as it is, because I don't think anyone is going to argue that it's easier to use than Windows.
*Not saying Firefox users are really sacrificing anything; with the way things are now, it's the IE users who are sacrificing. Unfortunately, most of them don't know it yet.
p
"Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
-Apple Computer, Inc.
Anyone who is a professional or specialist in anything can be driven crazy by how it's portrayed in entertainment.
You mean like how Lucy Lawless and her colleague boarded a Citation, were shown en route in a Falcon 2000 (or maybe a 900), landed in a Gulfstream III, and then disembarked from another Citation in Locusts?
Yeah. I can't watch stuff like that ever since I started flying.
Numb3rs is pretty good, though. I've caught a few little goofs but nothing nearly as bad as that pieced-together stock footage in Locusts.
p
In the Bering Sea, corpses make life jackets float. ;)
p
The problem is none of 'em are made properly. Fire axes -- I haven't seen the emergency hammers on trains, but I'm assuming they're similar -- and any good quality tool-type hammers are made with forged or cast metal heads and a nice heavy-duty shaft.
These useless "emergency escape hammers" for cars are plastic, with a little metal tip on one end of the head (like that's going to break something). They wouldn't survive if a car ran over them, much less break a window and allow you to escape from a sinking car.
Of course, even if you HAVE a good window-breaking device, breaking the window may or may not be the best solution to escaping the car. They had an accompanying article about a Dutch school that teaches underwater vehicle escape, a key skill in Holland, where there are lots of canals that run alongside roads. Breaking the window isn't always the best thing to do.
p
You must not have seen the Car and Driver article where they tested about five or six of those things.
Absolutely, utterly, 100 percent useless. They couldn't break a window if you shot them out of a railgun. Seriously.
p
Or, more likely, Apple hasn't seen fit to document the calls yet. Not to excuse their laziness, but it seems like Apple gets around to documenting things much less quickly than they used to. Frankly, I suspect that even after nearly five years of OS X, they're still playing a bit of catch-up with the documentation.
p
Because it's a million times easier to invent new distractions than it is to make a car that drives itself over our horribly irregular (from a machine standpoint) network of roads.
Even having a car that drives itself on four-lane divided highways is beyond the reach of reasonable current technology. Don't even think about doing it in city traffic!
Sad, I know, but it's not as though no one's tried.
p
Gee, that's funny, look what happened... *whistles innocently, his faith in eBay temporarily restored*
p
Yeah, last time that happened, the Australian government wasn't too happy about the results.
Thorough breakup (and better de-orbiting) on re-entry is a much better alternative to multi-ton artificial meteorites.
p
No offence -- and this is coming from someone who has spent years convincing people that System 7.5 on anything short of a Power Mac is a bad idea, so I know of what you speak with regard to newer OSes on ancient hardware -- but that iMac would be doing a lot better if you weren't choking it to death with practically no RAM.
My old Wallstreet does just fine with 10.2.x, notwithstanding the very slow 4 MB Rage II graphics chipset it has. Of course, it has twice as much RAM as that iMac.
p
I think I speak for everyone when I ask...
"Win ninety-who?"
Nobody actually uses that any more, right?
p
Since you brought it up...
"Reader" is pluralised by adding an "s" to the end. This is standard English convention, and has been for hundreds of years.
Apostrophes are NEVER ever used to denote plurals!
Now to address your real point: why do you think I put "leading brand" in quotes? The "leading brand" in commercials is almost never really the brand with the most market share. It's simply one or more high-profile competitors. Geesh. Lighten up a notch or two, and enjoy your weekly dose of Thurrott. Slashdot is obviously too sophisticated for you.
p