I thought the lies in the Sci-Fi show were pretty transparent--especially the bit about where and how the file footage was found. I had not heard anything about the movie when we watched it, and my wife only knew that some movie was coming out about these film students that were missing after shooting a documentary. So, The Curse of the Blair Witch had us going for a while, despite the interviews with the "locals" that seemed too scripted, the "newsreel" footage that looked like regular film churned through some kind of "old movie" filter, and the "local TV" news clips that just looked staged. The cheesy 70s In Search Of-style TV show clips were effective, as were the "woodcuts" and maps that were shown.
Unfortunately, they went too far and made the claim that the film footage and equipment were found by archaeologists in "undisturbed soils" underneath the remains of a colonial-era structure. As an ex-archaeologist myself, I know that there is no way this could happen, short of some supernatural intervention. That told me immediately that it was all a hoax. Had they said the stuff was found scattered in the woods somewhere, I would at least have simply doubted the story, but as it was, I knew it was not true. (Unless I see some sort of supernatural phenomenon in front of my own eyes, I refuse to believe it--and I have yet to see any, drug-induced hallucinations not withstanding.)
It was a very good device for garnering interest in seeing the movie, though. I knew it wasn't true, but it looked like it would be a good time--and it was!
This begs the question as to what kind of beer Linux users prefer. As a homebrewer and all-around beer fan, I would be interested in finding out if folks out there prefer real beer over ho-hum, rice-riddled Budwiser, Miller and other "mainstream" brews. Maybe a poll is in order, hmmmm?
Of course, a good many of y'all might prefer wine, tequilla, or other spirits--or maybe there's a lot of tee-totalers out there as well!
Overall, I liked the movie very much and if anyone out there is considering seeing it, try not to read/hear anything more about it--including the rest of my post here.
My wife and I saw the bit on Sci-Fi Channel a couple of weeks before it opened, and while it was great to get the backstory, it was also very obvious that the whole thing was a dodge (I had not yet heard anything at all about the film), though they did have us going there for a while. I particularly liked the staging of the old "newsreel" footage and the cheesy 70s "In Search Of" rip-off. They lost me with the circumstances under which the film and videotape were found, though, and the "local news" bits were obviously faked. Still, it was great that Artisan Entertainment (or whomever) went to the expense of putting that together!
On another note, I thought the whole thing was rather Lovecraftian--not in the over-the-top mind-paralyzing way of some of the C'thulhu stories, but more in the vein of The Rats in the Walls: we are presented with a first-hand account of horrorific events that leaves so much to the imagination--which makes things all the more scary as our own fears are magnified internally as opposed to being shown someone else getting disembowled for gore's sake. I'd like to see more such movies--particulary a good presentation of Lovecraft's stories themselves. (I thought Reanimator was good in a cheesy way, but I think a more serious treatment of his work is due.)
The film makers obviously put a lot of effort into making the story believable, and despite knowing otherwise, it was a very spooky movie!
I realize that this is essentially a "me too", but I just wanted to add my voice to the call for a port to the older RS/6000 models--like the 300 series box we have that might as well be a boat anchor for all the good it's doing us now!
Often, it's well before any agreement is signed, but when working with monopolistic or near-monopolistic entities, there aren't a lot of options.:(
Take for example the exorbitant fees we pay to Xerox in the way of maintenance. Our market is small enough that Xerox has no competition when it comes to servicing and repairing their equipment, so we're forced to go through them. Fortunately, that issue is slowly changing as more and more people around here get DocuTechs.
Yeah, I remember attending some classes for Xerox software (VIPP) at their local offices. One of their drones was rubbing his hands with glee that pretty soon "everyone will be running NT--it's where computing is going." Another person swayed by what is essentially a pretty interface sitting atop an OS that is trying to reinvent the wheel. We currently use 2 DocuTech 6135s for the digital printing side of our printing/fulfillment business. They are both driven by Ultra SPARC boxes running Solaris, so setting up automated tasks with my Linux Internet server and workstation has been frighteningly easy. And they've been (for the most part) terrific machines. I am worried now that if and when we get a DocuColor or other high-speed printer from Xerox, we will be forced to use shoddy Winblows software--just like we were when we updated the document assembly facet of the operation. (Get this: we bought our own PC ($3K) for their XDOD document assembly software/system instead of buying their Compaq box ($10K). Now, if there's a problem on that machine, the techs will 90% of the time blame it on "incompatible hardware" and refuse to support it. Also, it runs NT and when I wanted to add a CD-burner for backing up jobs I had to install the latest service pack (3). Well, when I asked Xerox if this might be an issue, they said that their software wasn't tested enough on SR3 and that if we ran into problems later, they might have us revert to SR1! Aaargh!) What really bothers me is that we may eventually have to sell our souls and adopt more and more Windoze applications because either that is what our customers expect or because we can't find the apps we need on *nix. (As another aside, we just recently visited a software company in Connecticut that makes a pretty good warehouse/fulfillment system that is currently available on SCO or NT, but their next major release will be NT only. Our plan is to get the SCO version now (partly because we have a SCO box with plenty of room already), but what about the future? We could migrate to NT in a few years, but dammit, I want more options!)
I know I'm probably preaching to the choir, but I don't want to live in Bill's version of the world, but it seems like our options are narrowing, in spite of the open source/free software movement. I guess we're in an interim period where business-ready open source apps are still being developed.
I am not a hard-core coder like some (most?) of you out there, but I have written a fair amount of shell scripts, HTML/PHP, Visual dBASE apps, etc. I am also a recreational drug user. (Probably partly due to a liberal arts education--coming to IT via archaeology! The last thing I thought I'd be doing is sitting in front of a monitor for 8+ hours/day.) Although I experimented with lots of things in my college days, it's merely reefer and alcohol now.
From my personal experience, I wouldn't choose to be stoned or drunk while writing code. Though ganja gives me a great creative boost, sitting down and hammering out the logic doesn't last very long before I'm distracted. (I could see how debugging would be made easier, though,as some others have mentioned.) As I work for the family business, the paranoia factor of being high at work would be too great anyway!
As far as alcohol is concerned, it would have little or no effect--up to a point. Much like my pool game.;)
I never got into speed or coke much, but I could see where some coders would find them useful--though I think the crash wouldn't be worth it.
I certainly can't imagine doing anything in front of the computer on acid!
I think what it boils down to is that everyone has their limits and should know when and where to cross them--it's certainly not up to any judgemental, holier-than-thou busybodies who think they know what's best for us!
Hmmm... I guess I don't have the POKEY GENE, but whereas I allow that some people might "have the gene", I'd also like to see Garfield put to sleep; Family Circus contract flesh-eating bacteria; BC to fall off the evolutionary tree like the lifeless limb that it is; the Wizard of Id--well, I could go on, but I won't bore y'all.
This is the first time I heard of Pokey. I went and started looking through the archives, but after about 15 or 20 of 'em, I just couldn't take it anymore. I'm sure there are those that could find humor in something that looks like it was drawn AND written by a nine year old on acid--and I must admit the "Mr. Nutty" episode was pretty funny--but I guess I'm just missing it. (I'm also sure that someone will say "That's the point!") Sure, it's surreal and makes arcane references to literature and the UN, but is that funny by default? Maybe if I read *every* archived episode, I'll enter into a zen-like state of serenity and find the joy-buzzer of enlightenment, but I don't think it's worth the time.... Oh, for added flame-bait, I should add that I don't think South Park is the pinnacle of comedy that everyone thinks it is.
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Maybe we should throw our own Iowa Linux party...
I thought the lies in the Sci-Fi show were pretty transparent--especially the bit about where and how the file footage was found. I had not heard anything about the movie when we watched it, and my wife only knew that some movie was coming out about these film students that were missing after shooting a documentary. So, The Curse of the Blair Witch had us going for a while, despite the interviews with the "locals" that seemed too scripted, the "newsreel" footage that looked like regular film churned through some kind of "old movie" filter, and the "local TV" news clips that just looked staged. The cheesy 70s In Search Of-style TV show clips were effective, as were the "woodcuts" and maps that were shown.
Unfortunately, they went too far and made the claim that the film footage and equipment were found by archaeologists in "undisturbed soils" underneath the remains of a colonial-era structure. As an ex-archaeologist myself, I know that there is no way this could happen, short of some supernatural intervention. That told me immediately that it was all a hoax. Had they said the stuff was found scattered in the woods somewhere, I would at least have simply doubted the story, but as it was, I knew it was not true. (Unless I see some sort of supernatural phenomenon in front of my own eyes, I refuse to believe it--and I have yet to see any, drug-induced hallucinations not withstanding.)
It was a very good device for garnering interest in seeing the movie, though. I knew it wasn't true, but it looked like it would be a good time--and it was!
Too bad we can't get it here in I-o-way. I guess I'll have to bring some home from Minneapolis this weekend.
If you're ever in the upper Midwest, try a Summit Extra Pale Ale or their IPA. The brewery is in St. Paul and have limited regional distribution.
I live for Pale Ale!
This begs the question as to what kind of beer Linux users prefer. As a homebrewer and all-around beer fan, I would be interested in finding out if folks out there prefer real beer over ho-hum, rice-riddled Budwiser, Miller and other "mainstream" brews. Maybe a poll is in order, hmmmm?
Of course, a good many of y'all might prefer wine, tequilla, or other spirits--or maybe there's a lot of tee-totalers out there as well!
Just a thought...
Overall, I liked the movie very much and if anyone out there is considering seeing it, try not to read/hear anything more about it--including the rest of my post here.
My wife and I saw the bit on Sci-Fi Channel a couple of weeks before it opened, and while it was great to get the backstory, it was also very obvious that the whole thing was a dodge (I had not yet heard anything at all about the film), though they did have us going there for a while. I particularly liked the staging of the old "newsreel" footage and the cheesy 70s "In Search Of" rip-off. They lost me with the circumstances under which the film and videotape were found, though, and the "local news" bits were obviously faked. Still, it was great that Artisan Entertainment (or whomever) went to the expense of putting that together!
On another note, I thought the whole thing was rather Lovecraftian--not in the over-the-top mind-paralyzing way of some of the C'thulhu stories, but more in the vein of The Rats in the Walls: we are presented with a first-hand account of horrorific events that leaves so much to the imagination--which makes things all the more scary as our own fears are magnified internally as opposed to being shown someone else getting disembowled for gore's sake. I'd like to see more such movies--particulary a good presentation of Lovecraft's stories themselves. (I thought Reanimator was good in a cheesy way, but I think a more serious treatment of his work is due.)
The film makers obviously put a lot of effort into making the story believable, and despite knowing otherwise, it was a very spooky movie!
I realize that this is essentially a "me too", but I just wanted to add my voice to the call for a port to the older RS/6000 models--like the 300 series box we have that might as well be a boat anchor for all the good it's doing us now!
Take for example the exorbitant fees we pay to Xerox in the way of maintenance. Our market is small enough that Xerox has no competition when it comes to servicing and repairing their equipment, so we're forced to go through them. Fortunately, that issue is slowly changing as more and more people around here get DocuTechs.
Cheers!
We currently use 2 DocuTech 6135s for the digital printing side of our printing/fulfillment business. They are both driven by Ultra SPARC boxes running Solaris, so setting up automated tasks with my Linux Internet server and workstation has been frighteningly easy. And they've been (for the most part) terrific machines.
I am worried now that if and when we get a DocuColor or other high-speed printer from Xerox, we will be forced to use shoddy Winblows software--just like we were when we updated the document assembly facet of the operation. (Get this: we bought our own PC ($3K) for their XDOD document assembly software/system instead of buying their Compaq box ($10K). Now, if there's a problem on that machine, the techs will 90% of the time blame it on "incompatible hardware" and refuse to support it. Also, it runs NT and when I wanted to add a CD-burner for backing up jobs I had to install the latest service pack (3). Well, when I asked Xerox if this might be an issue, they said that their software wasn't tested enough on SR3 and that if we ran into problems later, they might have us revert to SR1! Aaargh!)
What really bothers me is that we may eventually have to sell our souls and adopt more and more Windoze applications because either that is what our customers expect or because we can't find the apps we need on *nix. (As another aside, we just recently visited a software company in Connecticut that makes a pretty good warehouse/fulfillment system that is currently available on SCO or NT, but their next major release will be NT only. Our plan is to get the SCO version now (partly because we have a SCO box with plenty of room already), but what about the future? We could migrate to NT in a few years, but dammit, I want more options!)
I know I'm probably preaching to the choir, but I don't want to live in Bill's version of the world, but it seems like our options are narrowing, in spite of the open source/free software movement. I guess we're in an interim period where business-ready open source apps are still being developed.
Actually, I was commenting on how he wanted zebra stripes...
A nicely tagged box would be pretty cool, too...
Cheers!
methinks you missed the satire...
From my personal experience, I wouldn't choose to be stoned or drunk while writing code. Though ganja gives me a great creative boost, sitting down and hammering out the logic doesn't last very long before I'm distracted. (I could see how debugging would be made easier, though,as some others have mentioned.) As I work for the family business, the paranoia factor of being high at work would be too great anyway!
As far as alcohol is concerned, it would have little or no effect--up to a point. Much like my pool game.
I never got into speed or coke much, but I could see where some coders would find them useful--though I think the crash wouldn't be worth it.
I certainly can't imagine doing anything in front of the computer on acid!
I think what it boils down to is that everyone has their limits and should know when and where to cross them--it's certainly not up to any judgemental, holier-than-thou busybodies who think they know what's best for us!
Cheers!
Hmmm... I guess I don't have the POKEY GENE, but whereas I allow that some people might "have the gene", I'd also like to see Garfield put to sleep; Family Circus contract flesh-eating bacteria; BC to fall off the evolutionary tree like the lifeless limb that it is; the Wizard of Id--well, I could go on, but I won't bore y'all.
I say, Bring back Bongo!
This is the first time I heard of Pokey. I went and started looking through the archives, but after about 15 or 20 of 'em, I just couldn't take it anymore. I'm sure there are those that could find humor in something that looks like it was drawn AND written by a nine year old on acid--and I must admit the "Mr. Nutty" episode was pretty funny--but I guess I'm just missing it. (I'm also sure that someone will say "That's the point!") Sure, it's surreal and makes arcane references to literature and the UN, but is that funny by default? Maybe if I read *every* archived episode, I'll enter into a zen-like state of serenity and find the joy-buzzer of enlightenment, but I don't think it's worth the time....
Oh, for added flame-bait, I should add that I don't think South Park is the pinnacle of comedy that everyone thinks it is.