Just to provide a bit more insight on what Martin is attempting to accomplish in this saga; he's actually a historian by education who specialized in the war of the roses. All the squabbling that occurs is a remythologization of that power struggle, because people generally don't want to read stale history books (and by people, I mean the fiction consuming public). So it's pretty integral to his goals a writer and continues throughout the whole series, but the POV chapters lend very well to get in to the minds of various people and villains often end up having shades of gray which adds a great dynamic IMO. Don't know that any of this changes your opinion on his work though:)
You realize that writers arn't auteur's correct? That this a collaborative industry, with many cooks in the kitchen. The directory gets a say, the actor gets a say, the studios get a say and even the public gets a say. As such the work we see is rarely indicative of the original screen player. Many things can kill the quality of a project, and the two chief suspects are focus groups and Studio execs. Movies get significant thematic changes, that have an adverse affect on continuity and character development, because the focus groups are unsettled by aspects of a movie. Ultimately, this is a business of money....
Making a blanket statement like "Hollywood writers are creatively bankrupt" is like saying that obviously all programmers at Microsoft are incompetent because of Microsoft's track record of poor performance on security.
Are there some? Sure. Is it indicative of writers in Hollywood? Nope, and plenty of good stuff is still written these days. More often than not, it's on television because there are more episodes and more opportunity for real character development.
Just an FYI, if you go in to the Adjustment Bureau expecting Adjustment Team you'll be quite disappointed. It's meant to be its own story but uses a similar entity to the adjustment team for controlling events. That's not to say it'll be either good or bad, just that it's really not intended to be a telling of a Dickian story.
I wouldn't argue that the studio execs are secure in the knowledge that people will buy their products, because they're not. It's why, so often, they rehash old franchises instead of taking a risk on a new franchise. The old franchise has demonstrated an ability to return 50% on investment, thus back to the well we go!
Obviously, this is just an opinion, but I couldn't disagree with you more. In my mind, the book was far superior. The book touches on lots of themes that are completely glossed over or ignored in the movie and many of those themes were central to Dick's writing. The first of which, has to do with Dekkard's relative place in society. In the book, Dekkard is a less-than-ordinary-man who has one last shot, he's desperate and lost. In the movie, he's a replicant....
So in essence, we have a book that was about struggling to maintain the last vestiges of humanity, and a movie that is about the role that artificial life, that appears human, plays in future society. Now, an argument can be raised that states the movie is forcing the viewers to question what humanity really is, which is a valid question, I just personally enjoy the heroic struggle of the "less-than" human.
Sure 10 years in dry conditions and probably at 70 degrees. Though the flash point of cardboard probably won't be reached, I would imagine that the operating temperature will be closer to 90 - 95 degree Fahrenheit. I don't know this factually, but I would imagine that a 33% increase of heat over a long period of time would cause an increased rate at which the boxes breakdown.
Just to say that thier estimate may not be quite as inaccurate as you estimate...
He probably is a majority share holder, while the board can force him to step down they cannot take his shares. It's in his own economic best interest, at this point, to step down and allow others to lead the company and for him to be completely out of the picture for the next two years.
That allows the government to continue working with HBGary and provides a return on investment for investors and himself. Anonymous has not struck a great blow against the system, merely forced a douche bag out of the spotlight for the time being. He'll be replaced by someone else who has a better vision for creating a profitable business in the current economic environment. This is what companies do...
Vector and vulnerability. From the surface, I would believe that linux and unix web servers are going to be run by individuals with a higher degree of technical aptitude thus a bit more secure to attack so although the vector exists the vulnerability may not be there.
Also, targeting windows based systems is going to put you in to corporate systems more over than not, as Microsoft controls much of that marketplace (things are changing as more shops are going without Microsoft but this is still the exception). And, though I don't pretend to be citing evidence on this, from an anecdotal perspective I would be inclined to believe that the linux/unix web servers are more likely to be tinkers and people in the education / open source community. If my anecdotal line of reasoning is correct, it would stand to reason that greater ROI could be generated from targeting the Windows systems that have both significant vector and vulnerability.
If I am developing malicious software for an operating system with the intent of making a profit, am I going to spend my time developing malware for an operating system that constitutes less than 10% of market share or am I going to use that time to develop for the operating system with 75% market share? [Source]
Gee, I don't know....seems like a tough decision.
Windows isn't perfect, but has been getting better. I'm not familiar enough with OS X to give a legitimate opinion but I very much doubt that the human beings at Apple are that much superior at producing code that does not have avenues for exploitation. It's a lot of very complex code that has lots of moving parts... mistakes happen.
It's the "Golden Rule", and not the one in the bible - "Whoever has the gold, makes the rules" It's one of the many nasty byproducts of capitalism but given the inherit nature of humanity, capitalism is probably our best bet. Our choices are that or whoever controls the military makes the rules, or some other such nonsense. It still allows for cronyism, but so do all the other systems and there are at least more avenues by which any one individual can attain gold so that individual can make their own rules.
The way to address this issue is not through legislation to expressly prohibit gross CEO pay, as those in power will use their ample wealth to maintain the status-quo. Instead, the incestuous relationships between CEO's and board members of various large corporations needs to be thoroughly exposed and explored for public dissemination. From there a public sentiment could be used to slowly influence law markers, but this process will not happen over night.
That being said, the environment is ripe for this sort of muckracking, given the gross abuses of power that Wallstreet exhibited during the oughts, people are more apt to listen to this sort of stuff.
I wonder if there are legal message boards that go crazy when a legal movie comes out and nitpick every little technical detail about how the law operates...
It's a movie.
Hollywood never portrays anything like it really is, it's always glamorized in one way or another. Get over it, or stop going to see their productions.
Forgive me if I misunderstood you, but according to your meta-physical argument for God, I can't help but wonder did we not create god through collective consciousness? If God were to exist in the manner in which you theorize then God seems more a product of us rather than the other way around...
Congrats on your 20 lbs friend. I've been battling weight issues for 10 years and finally, am at a very healthy place weight wise (17 years old, 245 lbs at 5'9...27 years old 150 lbs at 5'9). It took me a long long time to do it right, but really it's about portions and learning to listen to your body.
We don't need nearly as much food as we become accustomed to having...
"You lack imagination" is not an answer to his query, it's the reason why conspiracy theorists are summarily ignored. Yes, we know in 25 years, you'll be sure to remind us if something DOES occur that YOU called it.
Slashdot Mirror
Just to provide a bit more insight on what Martin is attempting to accomplish in this saga; he's actually a historian by education who specialized in the war of the roses. All the squabbling that occurs is a remythologization of that power struggle, because people generally don't want to read stale history books (and by people, I mean the fiction consuming public). So it's pretty integral to his goals a writer and continues throughout the whole series, but the POV chapters lend very well to get in to the minds of various people and villains often end up having shades of gray which adds a great dynamic IMO. Don't know that any of this changes your opinion on his work though :)
Yes, Ubuntufan5 has been spending his/her time over the past few days posting pictures to goatse for fun.
You realize that writers arn't auteur's correct? That this a collaborative industry, with many cooks in the kitchen. The directory gets a say, the actor gets a say, the studios get a say and even the public gets a say. As such the work we see is rarely indicative of the original screen player. Many things can kill the quality of a project, and the two chief suspects are focus groups and Studio execs. Movies get significant thematic changes, that have an adverse affect on continuity and character development, because the focus groups are unsettled by aspects of a movie. Ultimately, this is a business of money....
Making a blanket statement like "Hollywood writers are creatively bankrupt" is like saying that obviously all programmers at Microsoft are incompetent because of Microsoft's track record of poor performance on security.
Are there some? Sure.
Is it indicative of writers in Hollywood? Nope, and plenty of good stuff is still written these days. More often than not, it's on television because there are more episodes and more opportunity for real character development.
Just an FYI, if you go in to the Adjustment Bureau expecting Adjustment Team you'll be quite disappointed. It's meant to be its own story but uses a similar entity to the adjustment team for controlling events. That's not to say it'll be either good or bad, just that it's really not intended to be a telling of a Dickian story.
Primer may have been made for $7000, but many corners were necessarily cut to make that budget :)
I would be very surprised to hear that they paid for any shoot locations or acquired requisite insurance coverage before shooting.
I wouldn't argue that the studio execs are secure in the knowledge that people will buy their products, because they're not. It's why, so often, they rehash old franchises instead of taking a risk on a new franchise. The old franchise has demonstrated an ability to return 50% on investment, thus back to the well we go!
Obviously, this is just an opinion, but I couldn't disagree with you more. In my mind, the book was far superior. The book touches on lots of themes that are completely glossed over or ignored in the movie and many of those themes were central to Dick's writing. The first of which, has to do with Dekkard's relative place in society. In the book, Dekkard is a less-than-ordinary-man who has one last shot, he's desperate and lost. In the movie, he's a replicant....
So in essence, we have a book that was about struggling to maintain the last vestiges of humanity, and a movie that is about the role that artificial life, that appears human, plays in future society. Now, an argument can be raised that states the movie is forcing the viewers to question what humanity really is, which is a valid question, I just personally enjoy the heroic struggle of the "less-than" human.
Sure 10 years in dry conditions and probably at 70 degrees. Though the flash point of cardboard probably won't be reached, I would imagine that the operating temperature will be closer to 90 - 95 degree Fahrenheit. I don't know this factually, but I would imagine that a 33% increase of heat over a long period of time would cause an increased rate at which the boxes breakdown.
Just to say that thier estimate may not be quite as inaccurate as you estimate...
He probably is a majority share holder, while the board can force him to step down they cannot take his shares. It's in his own economic best interest, at this point, to step down and allow others to lead the company and for him to be completely out of the picture for the next two years.
That allows the government to continue working with HBGary and provides a return on investment for investors and himself. Anonymous has not struck a great blow against the system, merely forced a douche bag out of the spotlight for the time being. He'll be replaced by someone else who has a better vision for creating a profitable business in the current economic environment. This is what companies do...
Colbert's conclusion is epic :)
Vector and vulnerability. From the surface, I would believe that linux and unix web servers are going to be run by individuals with a higher degree of technical aptitude thus a bit more secure to attack so although the vector exists the vulnerability may not be there.
Also, targeting windows based systems is going to put you in to corporate systems more over than not, as Microsoft controls much of that marketplace (things are changing as more shops are going without Microsoft but this is still the exception). And, though I don't pretend to be citing evidence on this, from an anecdotal perspective I would be inclined to believe that the linux/unix web servers are more likely to be tinkers and people in the education / open source community. If my anecdotal line of reasoning is correct, it would stand to reason that greater ROI could be generated from targeting the Windows systems that have both significant vector and vulnerability.
Repeat after me, market share!
If I am developing malicious software for an operating system with the intent of making a profit, am I going to spend my time developing malware for an operating system that constitutes less than 10% of market share or am I going to use that time to develop for the operating system with 75% market share? [Source]
Gee, I don't know....seems like a tough decision.
Windows isn't perfect, but has been getting better. I'm not familiar enough with OS X to give a legitimate opinion but I very much doubt that the human beings at Apple are that much superior at producing code that does not have avenues for exploitation. It's a lot of very complex code that has lots of moving parts ... mistakes happen.
Correct!
It's the "Golden Rule", and not the one in the bible - "Whoever has the gold, makes the rules"
It's one of the many nasty byproducts of capitalism but given the inherit nature of humanity, capitalism is probably our best bet. Our choices are that or whoever controls the military makes the rules, or some other such nonsense. It still allows for cronyism, but so do all the other systems and there are at least more avenues by which any one individual can attain gold so that individual can make their own rules.
The way to address this issue is not through legislation to expressly prohibit gross CEO pay, as those in power will use their ample wealth to maintain the status-quo. Instead, the incestuous relationships between CEO's and board members of various large corporations needs to be thoroughly exposed and explored for public dissemination. From there a public sentiment could be used to slowly influence law markers, but this process will not happen over night.
That being said, the environment is ripe for this sort of muckracking, given the gross abuses of power that Wallstreet exhibited during the oughts, people are more apt to listen to this sort of stuff.
Facebook = Harvard
Google = Stanford
I suppose it depends on the generation you grew up in, to me MJ will always be Michael Jordan...
I wonder if there are legal message boards that go crazy when a legal movie comes out and nitpick every little technical detail about how the law operates...
It's a movie.
Hollywood never portrays anything like it really is, it's always glamorized in one way or another. Get over it, or stop going to see their productions.
Forgive me if I misunderstood you, but according to your meta-physical argument for God, I can't help but wonder did we not create god through collective consciousness? If God were to exist in the manner in which you theorize then God seems more a product of us rather than the other way around...
Have to agree, the high level sneak multiplier was insane, it was like 6X as much damage. One shot kills FTW!
It's even in our religions. On one level it helps build communities, on another level it causes wars!
Booyah!
Congrats on your 20 lbs friend. I've been battling weight issues for 10 years and finally, am at a very healthy place weight wise (17 years old, 245 lbs at 5'9...27 years old 150 lbs at 5'9). It took me a long long time to do it right, but really it's about portions and learning to listen to your body.
We don't need nearly as much food as we become accustomed to having...
Strange, but isn't that a metaphor for life?
Learning to fall, without fighting it so you can get back up and start over again...
If you're a geriatric or a toddler maybe. A female black window bite though, is unlikely to kill an adult human being who is otherwise healthy.
Wow.
That's all I have to say about that one.
Wow.
Hyperbole, Check!
Misogyny, Check!
Confusing Causation and Correlation, Check!
Thou shalt complain about all new content to prove the veracity of thy fanboiness!
"You lack imagination" is not an answer to his query, it's the reason why conspiracy theorists are summarily ignored. Yes, we know in 25 years, you'll be sure to remind us if something DOES occur that YOU called it.
Please grow up.