This weekend I pick up the April 2001 issue of Cinefex magazine (a technical periodical on movie special effects techniques). This issue contains a detailed retrospective of the production of 2001 a space odyssey.
I would say that the article in Cinefex pretty well debunks most of the symbolism that is being attributed to the movie. The special effects crew involved in the film recount how many of the "symbols" planted in the movie were accidents or experimentation. That Kubrick would not be involved in the creation of most of the effects elements except in a "I like it" or "I hate it" final approval.
For those interested in movie special effects this article is a goldmine. They invented techniques never before seen on the big screen for this movie. Computer displays and wireframe models before you could just whip it out in a few hours on a graphical workstation. Thousands of hours spend using a photographic animation stand to create the classic computer monitors on the Discovery. A technical description of how they created the stargate light show at the end of the film using a variation of time lapse photography.
Obviously 2001 has alagorical elements built into it, but lets not go overboard. Sometime a cigar is just a cigar people.
This situation goes back to before the recent shootings. I experienced a similar situation to Sean when I was in Jr. High (approx. 1986).
A school bully and his gang had been picking on my since the beginning of school. This bully was particularly cruel (he wore steel toe work shoes to kick kids like me in the shins).
During class I was excused to use the Hall Pass to the restroom. Outside I ran into this bully and he precede to taunt, insult me, and threatened to beat me up. I said something like," You better leave me alone!"
He laughed and taunted again, "Why? What are you going to do?"
Being the stupid, helpless kid that I was I threated him in the only way that I could think might actually affect him. I told him that I might have to get my Dad's gun and shoot him.
My recollection is a little fuzzy at this point, but I remember ending up in the Vice Principals office. Either she overheard the conversation or the bully told on me. I don't know which. Even though I explained the pattern of abuse from this bully, and that I didn't even have access to a gun, let alone a serious intention to use one she called my house and, unfortunately, my grandparents, who were visiting, answered. I was suspended for a day and it was recommended my parents seek psychiatric help for me.
I was extremely embarrassed by the incident and it made my life even more difficult in dealing with this and other bullies in the future.
School administrators need to be less reactionary and more analytical. Question the "problem" students classmates and teachers. Find out what is really going on. Punish the bullies not the victims.
While I don't claim to understand what drive kids to go on a shooting rampage I'm sure that making them feel more alienated and outcast certainly doesn't help. For those who are just trying to survive school it just makes their lives even more of a living hell.
I agree that this is a good arguement for all emulators, but I think you're argument is too logical for a large corporation. Just like the music industry and Napster, large corporations don't want to look at other ways of doing things.
I think it's likely that they will kill it.
I hope I'm wrong, though. If Sony brands it's own emulator to play it's outdated games then maybe we'll see a widespread acceptance of emulators by the other gaming behemoths. I for think there is an untapped industry for classic games. More companies should unleash there "dead" products.
A best example of how to use these old games is shockwave.com.
I think that option two is most likely. PS1 emulation is built into every PS2, what advantage is there is allowing someone to use their existing PC instead?
Maybe they don't make any money on the box, but even if that is true once you own the box you are going to buy games for it. If they put out an emulator and you can buy GameA for PC or GameA for PS which are going to buy. Then they don't get the money. With lots of games being released for multiple platforms they want their customers locked into using their product only.
The only way I see them releasing VGS as a Sony product is if they loose their lawsuit with a competing emulator (ie. Bleem). Then they can market it as the official emulator at the same price or less and drive the competition out of buisness.
I read Crypto two months ago and breezed through it in two days. It was an easy read compared with The Codebreakers, which I am still reading (and have been, on and off, for six months).
While I like both of them I think that Crypto is much more accessable. Hopefully non-techies will read it and the interest in crypto will grow. I think the biggest problem right now is that most people don't understand how crypto can help them.
Has anyone else finished reading The Codebreakers? How do the two compare where their accounts overlap?
Sales tax on internet transactions would just drive up the cost of doing buisness on the web and create a new industry for accountants to track all the individual principalities sales tax and provide that information as a service (I'm sure the VCs are getting out their checkbooks as we speak).
I also agree that sales tax in the meat world doesn't work either. Every state and pissant county can make up a reason to charge a sales tax and if you are a buisness in that area tough luck if the guy down the street can charge less because of it.
Sales tax has also become a political tool for those that would like to have a say in what you can and cannot do. A higher sales tax on cigarettes for example. We need to take a stand on our personal liberties if nothing else.
If sales on the internet are subject to the local whims then I can see special taxes popping up in those communities that want to discourage "those people" from living here. This is an extreme example, but IMHO a valid one.
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I would say that the article in Cinefex pretty well debunks most of the symbolism that is being attributed to the movie. The special effects crew involved in the film recount how many of the "symbols" planted in the movie were accidents or experimentation. That Kubrick would not be involved in the creation of most of the effects elements except in a "I like it" or "I hate it" final approval.
For those interested in movie special effects this article is a goldmine. They invented techniques never before seen on the big screen for this movie. Computer displays and wireframe models before you could just whip it out in a few hours on a graphical workstation. Thousands of hours spend using a photographic animation stand to create the classic computer monitors on the Discovery. A technical description of how they created the stargate light show at the end of the film using a variation of time lapse photography.
Obviously 2001 has alagorical elements built into it, but lets not go overboard. Sometime a cigar is just a cigar people.
A school bully and his gang had been picking on my since the beginning of school. This bully was particularly cruel (he wore steel toe work shoes to kick kids like me in the shins).
During class I was excused to use the Hall Pass to the restroom. Outside I ran into this bully and he precede to taunt, insult me, and threatened to beat me up. I said something like," You better leave me alone!"
He laughed and taunted again, "Why? What are you going to do?"
Being the stupid, helpless kid that I was I threated him in the only way that I could think might actually affect him. I told him that I might have to get my Dad's gun and shoot him.
My recollection is a little fuzzy at this point, but I remember ending up in the Vice Principals office. Either she overheard the conversation or the bully told on me. I don't know which. Even though I explained the pattern of abuse from this bully, and that I didn't even have access to a gun, let alone a serious intention to use one she called my house and, unfortunately, my grandparents, who were visiting, answered. I was suspended for a day and it was recommended my parents seek psychiatric help for me.
I was extremely embarrassed by the incident and it made my life even more difficult in dealing with this and other bullies in the future.
School administrators need to be less reactionary and more analytical. Question the "problem" students classmates and teachers. Find out what is really going on. Punish the bullies not the victims.
While I don't claim to understand what drive kids to go on a shooting rampage I'm sure that making them feel more alienated and outcast certainly doesn't help. For those who are just trying to survive school it just makes their lives even more of a living hell.
I think it's likely that they will kill it.
I hope I'm wrong, though. If Sony brands it's own emulator to play it's outdated games then maybe we'll see a widespread acceptance of emulators by the other gaming behemoths. I for think there is an untapped industry for classic games. More companies should unleash there "dead" products.
A best example of how to use these old games is shockwave.com.
Maybe they don't make any money on the box, but even if that is true once you own the box you are going to buy games for it. If they put out an emulator and you can buy GameA for PC or GameA for PS which are going to buy. Then they don't get the money. With lots of games being released for multiple platforms they want their customers locked into using their product only.
The only way I see them releasing VGS as a Sony product is if they loose their lawsuit with a competing emulator (ie. Bleem). Then they can market it as the official emulator at the same price or less and drive the competition out of buisness.
While I like both of them I think that Crypto is much more accessable. Hopefully non-techies will read it and the interest in crypto will grow. I think the biggest problem right now is that most people don't understand how crypto can help them.
Has anyone else finished reading The Codebreakers? How do the two compare where their accounts overlap?
I also agree that sales tax in the meat world doesn't work either. Every state and pissant county can make up a reason to charge a sales tax and if you are a buisness in that area tough luck if the guy down the street can charge less because of it.
Sales tax has also become a political tool for those that would like to have a say in what you can and cannot do. A higher sales tax on cigarettes for example. We need to take a stand on our personal liberties if nothing else.
If sales on the internet are subject to the local whims then I can see special taxes popping up in those communities that want to discourage "those people" from living here. This is an extreme example, but IMHO a valid one.