People seem to be going ape-shit with this 3-strikes thing and whether it is real or not. I'm not going to take sides here but I am going to post a google link to an LA Times article about "3 Strikes". I hope this information will help the others in this thread debate a little more rationally.
...I'm sure that I wouldn't mind Osama being ass raped if he ever gets caught.
And why is that? Because our wonderfully accurate intelligence has pegged him as the mastermind behind 9/11? The same crack team of analysts who brought us the "Iraq is developing a huge WMD program" info? It's easy to bring up Osama because it triggers such a violent response in all of us, myself included. However, I submit to you that Osama and the 9/11 event is really just a larger version of what I was saying before: we'll never know 100% if he was responsible or not.
Anyhow, I'm not going to expend an awful lot of effort trying to defend that bastard. I'm just pointing out that making exceptions for special cases is pretty dangerous. Sure, there are some people who I'd like to see endure torture for the rest of their lives. But it's important to realize that such thoughts are not rational and while they might be amusing little fantasies for us to play in our heads, that's really where they should stay.
I dunno, I'm no doctor but I'm willing to bet that being violently raped a few times in prison would certainly help reverse some of that irreversible brain chemistry. If for nothing else I am certain that it would make some of these rapists think twice about what they're doing. Yes they have these urges but after being the victim of their own crime they very well might decide to try harder to resist the urges.
I knew I was going to get dinged for not posting a link but the research I'm talking about was in a Scientific American article and only the first two paragraphs are available. The work has indicated that the physical development of the brain gets screwed up when a child is subjected to abuse. Once those neural pathways are set, they're pretty much unchangable.
You're bringing up a much larger issue of free will which is outside the scope of this discussion but is important nonetheless so I'm not dismissing what you are saying.
I tend to agree but as I get older and see more and more bullshit babying and coddling of the convicted and worrying more about them than their victims I tend to start thinking that these people deserve some of their own medicine.
I think we all have that little part inside of us that feels that way. However, I believe it is important to construct laws and take action based on a rational, calm response and we must all strive to keep the reactionary, violent, aggressive thoughts that eminate from the so-called "reptillian" part of our brain under control.
I don't feel sorry for the murderers, rapists, and child molesters.
I know I'm gonna get flamed for this...
First of all, even when someone is convicted of one of these crimes we never know with 100% certainty that the guy really is guilty. There have been a few rape convictions that have been overturned in recent years based on DNA testing that proved the poor shmuck who spent the last 10 years in jail getting gangraped every day was innocent all along. Do you feel sorry for that particular 'rapist'?
As far as child molesters go, I think it's fairly well accepted at this point that many of these people were victims of child molestation themselves. The early abuse caused irreperable changes in their brain chemistry which made them more likely to commit deviant acts. Obviously, we need these freaks off the street since they can never be rehabilitated. But I'm not sure that sentencing them to a lifetime of being raped is really the right thing to do.
There is a reason we have the clause "unusual punishment" in our legal system. Our rehabilitation system thinks it's pretty clever by not performing the abuse themselves but turning a blind eye when prisoners do it to each other. But prison rape is something that no prisoner should have to endure, regardless of what crime they were convicted of.
You ever see the film "Trekkies"? There's an uber-geek in that film who has built his own Christopher Pike wheelchair and then, I kid you not, goes riding in it around town! The scene where he goes to Radio Shack to pick up some new parts for it is hilarious! If you haven't seen this flick, rent it tonight! You'll never make the mistake of calling yourself a geek again after you see the people in this movie!
Pick a popular consumer technology and there's probably some overpaid academic expert somewhere who's calling it addictive.
Does anyone else find it a bit bizarre that Forbes -- a magazine which is pretty much dedicated to celebrating the financial excesses of the business sector with their infamous lists -- is describing an academic as "overpaid"?
God, this sounds all too much like Lucas. Either this is legit or it's a brilliant fake.
07. The original shooting scene between Han and Greedo has been restored.
Thank Christ.
13. The Dianoga has gotten a CG makeover and were are now able to see more of the creature.
I'm assuming this "dianoga" is the creature in the trash compactor. What is wrong with Lucas? Most of what made that scene so effective was that you *couldn't* see more of it!
01. The taun-tauns are now CG.
Why? They looked fine! I'm not convinced that their gait with CG will look any better than the stop-motion.
05. The slug monster is CG
Again, why? Why?
08. A new scene was shot in which the stormtroopers, after they capture Han, Leia and Chewie, bring Vader the box containing C-3PO in pieces. Vader orders the stormtroopers to bring the broken droid to Chewbacca's cell so that he can fix him.
Oh sure. I can easily see one of the most evil dudes in the galaxy making sure that C-3PO gets back to his friends. Christ.
04. The ewoks are now mostly CG and there are a lot more of them.
Oh dear lord.
07. In the battle of Endor there are thousands of Ewoks and they are more vicious than there midgets-in-suits counterparts. More bite the dust now.
That's small consulation.
11. During Anakin's death scene it starts with a sad rendition of the Imperial March and slowly evolves into Anakin's Theme.
Oh now this is just too much. Having the Imperial March play one last time during Vader's death was a stroke of brilliance by John Williams. I can't believe they are going to fuck with this.
12. Sebastion Shaw who played Anakin when he was unmasked has been replaced with Hayden Christenson in make-up to make him look older. Anakin has much more dialogue. He apologizes for the destruction he caused, he thanks his son for turning him back to the light, he tells his son to rebuild the Jedi and he says he loves him and his sister. Just before he dies he says, "It is finished...".
Nice. So they're going to nullify this Shaw dudes single greatest professional achievement. Really nice George.
I could go on and on but what's the point? Lucas doesn't give a shit.
I thought I remembered quite a bit of info on various "making-of" shows that showed the original models, how they did cutting-edge special effects on a shoestring budget, and the occasional flaws that made it through (like a TIE fighter shadow where the fighter itself had been removed).
I remember watching those when I was a kid. The one on The Empire Strikes Back clearly sticks out in my mind. I was about 11 or 12 then and this was the first time I had ever gotten a chance to see movie magic in the making. I remember being stunned at the painstaking process of stop-motion animation that was used to animate the AT-ATs. The fact that they actually built a full-scale X-wing fighter that was lifted by a crane to simulate Yoda lifting the fighter out of the Degoba swamp. The Degoba sound stage, incidently, was the largest indoor stage in the world at that time. The rebel fighters who formed the ground forces on Hoth were actually Norwegian (or Scandanavian) people who didn't understand a lot of the english instructions being called out by the director.
I also remember fondly The Making of Return of the Jedi. They showed how some poor linguist sap had to don a giant Admiral Ackbar arm puppet and control his lips to match the sounds without being able to see Ackbar's mouth! I could go on and on. Those shows were great!
Does anyone have any idea how I can get copies of these? If there was any legal way of obtaining them, I'd gladly pay for them. However, as with so many things these days, they have disappeared into the ether because of the neglect of the copyright owners so I assume that I will have to rely on bootlegs. Please, any help would be appreciated.
And, oh yeah, what the fuck is wrong with you Lucas? What are you trying to pull with this "there aren't a lot of behind-the-scenes materials available for the original films" bullshit? Christ, at least you could have said that whatever stuff you did have all rotted because of failure to preserve it. To say there weren't a lot of behind-the-scenes materials shot is an obvious lie.
You seem to think that the test must be oral or written. A means test is not that. It is some qualifying criteria. For instance, to borrow from a bank you need the ability to pay back the loan. The means test for a loan is being able to pay it back.
For voting a means test might be that you need to be a landowner (as mentioned earlier). You cannot cheat here. Either you own land or you do not. If you want to vote, then get out and buy some land! Sell it right after the vote if you want, but hey, you made an effort.
I guess I misunderstood what kind of test you were thinking of. The idea of a test based on your financial status scares me even more than a written test of knowledge or IQ!
It might be some other criteria.
I think it would most certainly have to be in order to be even remotely fair.
R. Heinlien, in his book StarShip Troopers, created a society where to be able to vote you must first join the military, thus establishing your willingness to serve the public. So the means test there was public service.
I'm not saying that that is what it should be, it is just an example.
I'm glad you added that last bit in. I certainly don't think our society should resemable the one form Starship Troopers in the least!
Again, I'm seeing a lot of problems with coming up with a good/fair test and not a lot of well-explained motivation for creating one. If average people want to vote for candidates that look good or say the right things, why should they be prevented from doing so? Just because you and I think that's silly? I can see where the ability to get along well with other people of 'average' skill/IQ/maturity/etc -- namely the other politicians they will be working with on the job -- could be a 'legitimate' reason to vote for someone. I, personally, don't vote that way but I can see where some people would want to.
Your average voter probably doesn't know the difference between a senator and a representative, doesn't know how the state legislature works, doesn't understand the electoral college, couldn't tell you what the majority whip does, or define the role of the speaker of the house. They couldn't name any of the cabinet postions. We don't let you drive a car without at least some knowledge. We have tests before you can do alot of things in this country, maybe voting should be one of them?
Why? Why should a voter need to be able to answer questions like this before we let them vote? I don't know what the hell a majority whip does. Are you saying that means I'm so stupid I shouldn't be allowed to vote? BTW, I have a Ph.D. from one of the most respected scientific institutions in the world.
Sure, I'd love it if people would take more time to really study the issues and the candidates positions on those very issues before heading to the polling place. But I haven't really seen a compelling reason why this should be mandated by law. Let's make sure there is a very real need to take people's rights and freedoms away before we do so. Not some "anyone who voted for some ex-pro-wrestler guy shouldn't really be allowed to vote" kind of argument.
I do have some problems with it. First this is going to give a huge voting advantage to the rich. I would guess that a higher % of wealthy voters would pass this test versus poor voters. Even if you gave free classes to educate the voters a poor person is going to be less able to take the classes.
Well, we can agree on something. I'm sure any of the tests that would ever be agreed upon would be tests that would discriminate against the poor. Since the poor would not get a sizeable vote, their concerns would not get raised and they would remain poor. I don't like the idea of that.
There really should be a means test for voters. Not monetary, not intellectual, not age, but instead being able to discuss the important issues, or some such criteria.
Of course, who decides what the criteria are (also known as who watches the watchers)?
In wake of Arnuld's landslide victory, I've been hearing a lot of this "people should have to pass a test in order to be allowed to vote" crap. I'm sorry but this is just completely at odds with the original intent of the founding fathers. You, yourself, seem to realize the problem with these tests ("who decides the criteria?") but you still seem to think this is a good idea. I wonder if your feelings on this matter are clear, RetroGeek?
What are "important issues?" Who decides? Yes, I'm sure that the attractiveness of candidates influences their chances of being elected. And yes that kind of bothers me. But I think an equally intelligent human being could argue that since attractiveness seems to influence people on a subconscious level, why shouldn't that come into play when you cast your vote? After all, we are electing people that we hope have some leadership potential. Obviously, we hope they are idiots but most of the tough thinking will be done by advisors within their adminstration. I think Steven Hawking is a brilliant man but I would never vote for him if he were running for office. Why? Because even though I have complete faith in him, I fear that the other elected officials he would have to interact with wouldn't take him seriously.
Tests are quite simply a bad idea. For everyone out there who keeps saying we need to institute some kind of qualifying exam, I'd like to hear some particulars from you. And explain how you're going to make this exam cheat-proof too, while you're at it.
True, email is a great way of broadcasting information using little effort on your part. However, there is an even easier solution: use the "page" feature on your office phone!
You'd be surprised at the response you get. Everyone in the company will get to receive your important information. I use page for everything:
"Hey, there's a new memory leak in our code! I think it has something to do with the GUI. Whoever screwed up, please fix it right now. Some of us are trying to work!"
"Just wanted to let you all know that I'm uploading a change to TreeViewWindow.cpp right now!"
"Can one of you secretaries put some new coffee in the coffee machine in the kitchen? We're all out."
It's unfortunate that technology has blinded so many of us to much simpler solutions to our communications problems. The next time you need to disseminate information to your work associates, don't use email: hit that page button instead!
Would "we the people" ever hear about it? Or would the find be a classified secret due to so-called national/international security risks and issues?
It wouldn't matter whether it was classified or not. A secret that big would not stay a secret for long. There are leaks all the time. Christ, we've already managed to let the Chinese obtain detailed information about every nuclear weapon in our arsenal. I'm sure if we ever got a clear sign of extraterrestial intelligence, word would slip out in a matter of days. Some things are just way, way too important to expect that every single individual with access to that information would keep their trap shut.
I'm not sure why I'm bothering to respond to this obvious troll, but here goes...
We already have enough resources to take care of all the needy people not only in this country but on this planet. The real problem is that society, as a whole, just doesn't care enough about the unfortunates enough to do anything. If we were to stop sending any money on space exploration, that money would not get immediately diverted to persons in need. It would most likely end up funding tax breaks so that people can buy a new SUV. Or maybe it would "disappear" in a S&L fraud or HUD "misappropriation".
I grow tired of hearing people complaining that we should divert money from science towards needed social programs. Those programs are underfunded because we just haven't made them a priority. Slashing someone else's budget isn't going to make that money magically appear in the budget of social programs. We would need a real fundamental change in attitudes of elected officials and the voting public.
Gah. Did you explain to this sap that P2P is copyright infringment, not theft?
Yes, in my follow-up message I did point out the distinction and tried to use this to prove my point about the widespread confusion regarding these types of issues. I don't know if my pointing his error out pissed him off so much that he didn't bother to respond or whether he just passed me off as a nutjob. In any case, that was the end of our very brief interchange.
So the average consumer will be hampered while the clued techy will be able to do what they've always done.
I kid you not: this last weekend I tried to play a DVD I rented from the video store and got an error message complaining that I needed a Region 1 player. I have a Region 1 player. I have never had this problem playing a rental disk before. I tried again and again and every time got the same error. What was I to do?
Well, fortunately, I happen to know there are many 'soft' hacks for DVD players listed on the web. So I used one of them (it basically entailed typing in the first few digits of pi into the keypad) to disable the region check and I was finally able to watch the DVD. I was kind of amused but also pissed off. It's fine for us techies to find some work around. My mom, on the other hand, wouldn't have had a clue how to get it to work.
Has anyone else ever had this problem with faulty region encoding?
I am becoming more and more convinced that intellectual property is on a collision course with personal liberty. Unfortunately, neither the Republicans or Demorats seem to get this yet.
The problem is more widespread than that. Here is a very brief email exchange I had with the anchor of a certain cable news program:
Me: I was dismayed to see Mr. XXXXX's interview with the new president of the RIAA on Monday night. The issue of downloading music from the internet is not quite as clear-cut as your show presented. It would have been much more interesting to have the RIAA president interviewed side-by-side with a representative from the file-sharing community. The issue of illegal music downloads is the tip of the iceberg for a range of important topics concerning the meaning and relevance of intellectual property and copyright in the 21st century. You are missing a valuable opportunity to examine these complex and important issues and are doing a poor job of reporting impartially when you conclude such a one-sided interview with a comment along the lines of "we wish you good luck" as you did with the RIAA president.
Mr. XXXXX: thanks for the note. My daughter shares your view. She's wrong too:) Stealing is stealing and this is theft. Do I think the industry has handled this correctly? I think my questions suggest probably not. But at the end of the day it is stealing. I am a bit at a loss that you see it otherwise.
I did send a follow-up email that made another attempt that persuing the file-sharing story beyond the shallow depth that they have been could lead to some interesting material for them. I never received a reply.
I was disappointed that this particular individual who, supposedly, is always interested in finding the hidden story behind the headlines, was so quick to compare me to his (persumably) young and immature daughter. I don't believe his quick dismissal of my point was due to spite or pressure from his boss. I think it's just because almost no one (outside of slashdot and a few other niche places) seems to realize that there are much bigger issues at stake here.
I think we need to somehow get "one of us" on one of these news programs to help "the masses" see that there is really an important battle coming in the very, very near future. That being, of course, the collison course you mentioned. How we get someone from our side on one of these programs is beyond me...
Great idea......as long as I know where the mute button is
I can easily see stores providing a mute button but rewarding you for keeping it on in the form of a 1% discount at the register or accumulation of "BonusBux" or something like that. Kinda like ad-supported software. If they put a mute button on there (and I'm sure people will demand it), they're going to have to give us some incentive to make sure we don't all automatically engage that function.
I notice you haven't bought contraceptives in the past couple weeks.
I didn't read the article (of course) but I don't think I'd object too much to these carts unless they were actually keeping track of my purchases over "the past couple weeks" as you imply. If it's just making suggestions based on what's currently in my cart (and it doesn't know who I am) I don't see this as too different my TiVo taking it upon itself to record programs it thinks I might like. Hell, it's not really an invasion of privacy just to point out what's clearly in my shopping cart anyhow. The voice thing is annoying but I'm not sure it's going to be too different from those people who use their cell phones in the grocery stores to carry on irrelevant conversations out of boredom.
That was my reaction, too, but in all fairness a large part of the virus-infection problem lies with the end user who clicks on every attachment they receive. Perhaps Microsoft should put some effort into making an Online Help or "Intro to Windows" that's interesting enough to make the average user sit through it once. And make sure to stress some basic security practices in these presentations.
Look, I hate reckless drivers as much as the next guy. Actually, probably more so because I have to deal with college kids who drive so bad you wouldn't believe. A lot of them simply don't stop for stop signs in spite of the fact that many of them drive heavy/powerful trucks and there are lots of young children in the area.
But here's what spooks so many people about this newest case: it sets a frightening prescedent that will surely be used in other less-clearcut cases. Your comment is dangerously close to "Well, so what if some cop broke into someone's house without a warrant? It turns out that guy was a pedophile and had tons of kiddie porn! If he hadn't gone the extra mile, that creep would still be out on the streets!" It's all too easy for people to applaud the use of hidden technology to nail a "bad guy" when the crime is so heinous to many of us. But once we start on the slippery slope, prosecuters will start using these hidden technologies for cases that you might not be quite so thrilled about. It'll be too late then.
I can't tell if you're one of those "the ends justify the means" guys or you simply didn't think too much before posting your comment. But I'm never going to be a fan of the government (or corporations) spying on us, even when that is used sometimes for cases that I personally like. That, my friend, is "exactly how" this new development is bad. Yes, I admit that I'm somewhat relieved that we've gotten another nutball off the road. But something like this can open the door to a whole host of nasty things down the road.
Seriously, the methane angle has already been proposed a long time ago. And anytime you hear something fantasitical, you should at least consult the skepdic site to see what rational people are thinking. Here's the link for Bermuda Triangle accidents. Most skeptics think pirates are the real cause of disappearances.
Well one of the labs in the running is actually developing them for use in fusion, this is a side effect kinda thing, and the military paying for the weapon would help fund the research side of things. NOthing pushed forward technology like military spending
Whether we like it or not, the US spends as much on defense as the next 10-15 countries combined. Many R&D innovations start off as defense-related technologies and only later get applied to civilian problems. That's because our government is much more likely to fund research that has military uses. Other countries (e.g., Japan, Germany) are more likely to help corporations with their R&D project. Not the US.
This invention might lower the tragedies of war if we have the intell to discriminate accurately. It might also increase collateral damage/friendly fire if the device inspires overconfidence in those who press the trigger.
The military is heavily funding research into what they call "total battlefield awareness" which can be thought of as identifing every object in the battlespace. I think the idea behind this article is that if that research goes well, and the laser research goes well then we might finally be able to drastically reduce civilian casualities.
A large part of the problem is that most of America's adversaries purposefully mix their military forces in with civilians to prevent us from firing upon them. The pinpoint accuracy that laser weapons could give us might be enough to prevent our enemimes from using their own population as human shields.
The thing that bothers me so much about the coverage that John Edwards gets is not so much that he's spouting bullshit. There are tons of people who do that. What upsets me is that he is preying on people who have suffered emotional losses and is preventing them from achieving a natural recovery. I'm flabergasted that no one has publically gastigated him for this.
For those unfamiliar, Edwards claims to be a psychic who communicates with the dead. So people who have lost a loved one and are having troubles letting go come to his show and ask Edwards to help them communicate with the deceased. I won't go into the details of Edwards' tricks on how he gives the illusion of a successful communication. The problem is that once someone "hears" from their dead friend/spouse/lover/etc., they are essentially deprived of the opportunity to make final peace and closure with the death. After all, you can always go back to Edwards or some other psychic and have another "last conversation" with them, right?
Any psychotherapist will tell you that closure is a very diffcult but important thing for someone who is grieving to achieve. Edwards, by claiming to circumvent the absolute ending of death, is depriving these people of that finality that they require to move on with their life. There's nothing wrong with remembering a loved one, of course. But what Edwards is doing is just plain wrong. It's not just fraud -- it's cruel and I believe it causes signficant emotional damage to those who fall for his tricks by preventing the natural healing mechanism of closure from ever really taking place.
Slashdot Mirror
People seem to be going ape-shit with this 3-strikes thing and whether it is real or not. I'm not going to take sides here but I am going to post a google link to an LA Times article about "3 Strikes". I hope this information will help the others in this thread debate a little more rationally.
GMD
And why is that? Because our wonderfully accurate intelligence has pegged him as the mastermind behind 9/11? The same crack team of analysts who brought us the "Iraq is developing a huge WMD program" info? It's easy to bring up Osama because it triggers such a violent response in all of us, myself included. However, I submit to you that Osama and the 9/11 event is really just a larger version of what I was saying before: we'll never know 100% if he was responsible or not.
Anyhow, I'm not going to expend an awful lot of effort trying to defend that bastard. I'm just pointing out that making exceptions for special cases is pretty dangerous. Sure, there are some people who I'd like to see endure torture for the rest of their lives. But it's important to realize that such thoughts are not rational and while they might be amusing little fantasies for us to play in our heads, that's really where they should stay.
GMD
I dunno, I'm no doctor but I'm willing to bet that being violently raped a few times in prison would certainly help reverse some of that irreversible brain chemistry. If for nothing else I am certain that it would make some of these rapists think twice about what they're doing. Yes they have these urges but after being the victim of their own crime they very well might decide to try harder to resist the urges.
I knew I was going to get dinged for not posting a link but the research I'm talking about was in a Scientific American article and only the first two paragraphs are available. The work has indicated that the physical development of the brain gets screwed up when a child is subjected to abuse. Once those neural pathways are set, they're pretty much unchangable.
You're bringing up a much larger issue of free will which is outside the scope of this discussion but is important nonetheless so I'm not dismissing what you are saying.
I tend to agree but as I get older and see more and more bullshit babying and coddling of the convicted and worrying more about them than their victims I tend to start thinking that these people deserve some of their own medicine.
I think we all have that little part inside of us that feels that way. However, I believe it is important to construct laws and take action based on a rational, calm response and we must all strive to keep the reactionary, violent, aggressive thoughts that eminate from the so-called "reptillian" part of our brain under control.
GMD
I don't feel sorry for the murderers, rapists, and child molesters.
I know I'm gonna get flamed for this...
First of all, even when someone is convicted of one of these crimes we never know with 100% certainty that the guy really is guilty. There have been a few rape convictions that have been overturned in recent years based on DNA testing that proved the poor shmuck who spent the last 10 years in jail getting gangraped every day was innocent all along. Do you feel sorry for that particular 'rapist'?
As far as child molesters go, I think it's fairly well accepted at this point that many of these people were victims of child molestation themselves. The early abuse caused irreperable changes in their brain chemistry which made them more likely to commit deviant acts. Obviously, we need these freaks off the street since they can never be rehabilitated. But I'm not sure that sentencing them to a lifetime of being raped is really the right thing to do.
There is a reason we have the clause "unusual punishment" in our legal system. Our rehabilitation system thinks it's pretty clever by not performing the abuse themselves but turning a blind eye when prisoners do it to each other. But prison rape is something that no prisoner should have to endure, regardless of what crime they were convicted of.
GMD
The winner plays Captain Christopher Pike.
(I'm such a geek. *sigh*)
You ever see the film "Trekkies"? There's an uber-geek in that film who has built his own Christopher Pike wheelchair and then, I kid you not, goes riding in it around town! The scene where he goes to Radio Shack to pick up some new parts for it is hilarious! If you haven't seen this flick, rent it tonight! You'll never make the mistake of calling yourself a geek again after you see the people in this movie!
GMD
Pick a popular consumer technology and there's probably some overpaid academic expert somewhere who's calling it addictive.
Does anyone else find it a bit bizarre that Forbes -- a magazine which is pretty much dedicated to celebrating the financial excesses of the business sector with their infamous lists -- is describing an academic as "overpaid"?
GMD
God, this sounds all too much like Lucas. Either this is legit or it's a brilliant fake.
07. The original shooting scene between Han and Greedo has been restored.
Thank Christ.
13. The Dianoga has gotten a CG makeover and were are now able to see more of the creature.
I'm assuming this "dianoga" is the creature in the trash compactor. What is wrong with Lucas? Most of what made that scene so effective was that you *couldn't* see more of it!
01. The taun-tauns are now CG.
Why? They looked fine! I'm not convinced that their gait with CG will look any better than the stop-motion.
05. The slug monster is CG
Again, why? Why?
08. A new scene was shot in which the stormtroopers, after they capture Han, Leia and Chewie, bring Vader the box containing C-3PO in pieces. Vader orders the stormtroopers to bring the broken droid to Chewbacca's cell so that he can fix him.
Oh sure. I can easily see one of the most evil dudes in the galaxy making sure that C-3PO gets back to his friends. Christ.
04. The ewoks are now mostly CG and there are a lot more of them.
Oh dear lord.
07. In the battle of Endor there are thousands of Ewoks and they are more vicious than there midgets-in-suits counterparts. More bite the dust now.
That's small consulation.
11. During Anakin's death scene it starts with a sad rendition of the Imperial March and slowly evolves into Anakin's Theme.
Oh now this is just too much. Having the Imperial March play one last time during Vader's death was a stroke of brilliance by John Williams. I can't believe they are going to fuck with this.
12. Sebastion Shaw who played Anakin when he was unmasked has been replaced with Hayden Christenson in make-up to make him look older. Anakin has much more dialogue. He apologizes for the destruction he caused, he thanks his son for turning him back to the light, he tells his son to rebuild the Jedi and he says he loves him and his sister. Just before he dies he says, "It is finished...".
Nice. So they're going to nullify this Shaw dudes single greatest professional achievement. Really nice George.
I could go on and on but what's the point? Lucas doesn't give a shit.
GMD
I thought I remembered quite a bit of info on various "making-of" shows that showed the original models, how they did cutting-edge special effects on a shoestring budget, and the occasional flaws that made it through (like a TIE fighter shadow where the fighter itself had been removed).
I remember watching those when I was a kid. The one on The Empire Strikes Back clearly sticks out in my mind. I was about 11 or 12 then and this was the first time I had ever gotten a chance to see movie magic in the making. I remember being stunned at the painstaking process of stop-motion animation that was used to animate the AT-ATs. The fact that they actually built a full-scale X-wing fighter that was lifted by a crane to simulate Yoda lifting the fighter out of the Degoba swamp. The Degoba sound stage, incidently, was the largest indoor stage in the world at that time. The rebel fighters who formed the ground forces on Hoth were actually Norwegian (or Scandanavian) people who didn't understand a lot of the english instructions being called out by the director.
I also remember fondly The Making of Return of the Jedi. They showed how some poor linguist sap had to don a giant Admiral Ackbar arm puppet and control his lips to match the sounds without being able to see Ackbar's mouth! I could go on and on. Those shows were great!
Does anyone have any idea how I can get copies of these? If there was any legal way of obtaining them, I'd gladly pay for them. However, as with so many things these days, they have disappeared into the ether because of the neglect of the copyright owners so I assume that I will have to rely on bootlegs. Please, any help would be appreciated.
And, oh yeah, what the fuck is wrong with you Lucas? What are you trying to pull with this "there aren't a lot of behind-the-scenes materials available for the original films" bullshit? Christ, at least you could have said that whatever stuff you did have all rotted because of failure to preserve it. To say there weren't a lot of behind-the-scenes materials shot is an obvious lie.
GMD
You seem to think that the test must be oral or written. A means test is not that. It is some qualifying criteria. For instance, to borrow from a bank you need the ability to pay back the loan. The means test for a loan is being able to pay it back.
For voting a means test might be that you need to be a landowner (as mentioned earlier). You cannot cheat here. Either you own land or you do not. If you want to vote, then get out and buy some land! Sell it right after the vote if you want, but hey, you made an effort.
I guess I misunderstood what kind of test you were thinking of. The idea of a test based on your financial status scares me even more than a written test of knowledge or IQ!
It might be some other criteria.
I think it would most certainly have to be in order to be even remotely fair.
R. Heinlien, in his book StarShip Troopers, created a society where to be able to vote you must first join the military, thus establishing your willingness to serve the public. So the means test there was public service.
I'm not saying that that is what it should be, it is just an example.
I'm glad you added that last bit in. I certainly don't think our society should resemable the one form Starship Troopers in the least!
Again, I'm seeing a lot of problems with coming up with a good/fair test and not a lot of well-explained motivation for creating one. If average people want to vote for candidates that look good or say the right things, why should they be prevented from doing so? Just because you and I think that's silly? I can see where the ability to get along well with other people of 'average' skill/IQ/maturity/etc -- namely the other politicians they will be working with on the job -- could be a 'legitimate' reason to vote for someone. I, personally, don't vote that way but I can see where some people would want to.
GMD
Your average voter probably doesn't know the difference between a senator and a representative, doesn't know how the state legislature works, doesn't understand the electoral college, couldn't tell you what the majority whip does, or define the role of the speaker of the house. They couldn't name any of the cabinet postions. We don't let you drive a car without at least some knowledge. We have tests before you can do alot of things in this country, maybe voting should be one of them?
Why? Why should a voter need to be able to answer questions like this before we let them vote? I don't know what the hell a majority whip does. Are you saying that means I'm so stupid I shouldn't be allowed to vote? BTW, I have a Ph.D. from one of the most respected scientific institutions in the world.
Sure, I'd love it if people would take more time to really study the issues and the candidates positions on those very issues before heading to the polling place. But I haven't really seen a compelling reason why this should be mandated by law. Let's make sure there is a very real need to take people's rights and freedoms away before we do so. Not some "anyone who voted for some ex-pro-wrestler guy shouldn't really be allowed to vote" kind of argument.
I do have some problems with it. First this is going to give a huge voting advantage to the rich. I would guess that a higher % of wealthy voters would pass this test versus poor voters. Even if you gave free classes to educate the voters a poor person is going to be less able to take the classes.
Well, we can agree on something. I'm sure any of the tests that would ever be agreed upon would be tests that would discriminate against the poor. Since the poor would not get a sizeable vote, their concerns would not get raised and they would remain poor. I don't like the idea of that.
GMD
There really should be a means test for voters. Not monetary, not intellectual, not age, but instead being able to discuss the important issues, or some such criteria.
Of course, who decides what the criteria are (also known as who watches the watchers)?
In wake of Arnuld's landslide victory, I've been hearing a lot of this "people should have to pass a test in order to be allowed to vote" crap. I'm sorry but this is just completely at odds with the original intent of the founding fathers. You, yourself, seem to realize the problem with these tests ("who decides the criteria?") but you still seem to think this is a good idea. I wonder if your feelings on this matter are clear, RetroGeek?
What are "important issues?" Who decides? Yes, I'm sure that the attractiveness of candidates influences their chances of being elected. And yes that kind of bothers me. But I think an equally intelligent human being could argue that since attractiveness seems to influence people on a subconscious level, why shouldn't that come into play when you cast your vote? After all, we are electing people that we hope have some leadership potential. Obviously, we hope they are idiots but most of the tough thinking will be done by advisors within their adminstration. I think Steven Hawking is a brilliant man but I would never vote for him if he were running for office. Why? Because even though I have complete faith in him, I fear that the other elected officials he would have to interact with wouldn't take him seriously.
Tests are quite simply a bad idea. For everyone out there who keeps saying we need to institute some kind of qualifying exam, I'd like to hear some particulars from you. And explain how you're going to make this exam cheat-proof too, while you're at it.
GMD
True, email is a great way of broadcasting information using little effort on your part. However, there is an even easier solution: use the "page" feature on your office phone!
You'd be surprised at the response you get. Everyone in the company will get to receive your important information. I use page for everything:
"Hey, there's a new memory leak in our code! I think it has something to do with the GUI. Whoever screwed up, please fix it right now. Some of us are trying to work!"
"Just wanted to let you all know that I'm uploading a change to TreeViewWindow.cpp right now!"
"Can one of you secretaries put some new coffee in the coffee machine in the kitchen? We're all out."
It's unfortunate that technology has blinded so many of us to much simpler solutions to our communications problems. The next time you need to disseminate information to your work associates, don't use email: hit that page button instead!
GMD
Would "we the people" ever hear about it? Or would the find be a classified secret due to so-called national/international security risks and issues?
It wouldn't matter whether it was classified or not. A secret that big would not stay a secret for long. There are leaks all the time. Christ, we've already managed to let the Chinese obtain detailed information about every nuclear weapon in our arsenal. I'm sure if we ever got a clear sign of extraterrestial intelligence, word would slip out in a matter of days. Some things are just way, way too important to expect that every single individual with access to that information would keep their trap shut.
GMD
I'm not sure why I'm bothering to respond to this obvious troll, but here goes...
We already have enough resources to take care of all the needy people not only in this country but on this planet. The real problem is that society, as a whole, just doesn't care enough about the unfortunates enough to do anything. If we were to stop sending any money on space exploration, that money would not get immediately diverted to persons in need. It would most likely end up funding tax breaks so that people can buy a new SUV. Or maybe it would "disappear" in a S&L fraud or HUD "misappropriation".
I grow tired of hearing people complaining that we should divert money from science towards needed social programs. Those programs are underfunded because we just haven't made them a priority. Slashing someone else's budget isn't going to make that money magically appear in the budget of social programs. We would need a real fundamental change in attitudes of elected officials and the voting public.
GMD
Gah. Did you explain to this sap that P2P is copyright infringment, not theft?
Yes, in my follow-up message I did point out the distinction and tried to use this to prove my point about the widespread confusion regarding these types of issues. I don't know if my pointing his error out pissed him off so much that he didn't bother to respond or whether he just passed me off as a nutjob. In any case, that was the end of our very brief interchange.
GMD
So the average consumer will be hampered while the clued techy will be able to do what they've always done.
I kid you not: this last weekend I tried to play a DVD I rented from the video store and got an error message complaining that I needed a Region 1 player. I have a Region 1 player. I have never had this problem playing a rental disk before. I tried again and again and every time got the same error. What was I to do?
Well, fortunately, I happen to know there are many 'soft' hacks for DVD players listed on the web. So I used one of them (it basically entailed typing in the first few digits of pi into the keypad) to disable the region check and I was finally able to watch the DVD. I was kind of amused but also pissed off. It's fine for us techies to find some work around. My mom, on the other hand, wouldn't have had a clue how to get it to work.
Has anyone else ever had this problem with faulty region encoding?
GMD
I am becoming more and more convinced that intellectual property is on a collision course with personal liberty. Unfortunately, neither the Republicans or Demorats seem to get this yet.
The problem is more widespread than that. Here is a very brief email exchange I had with the anchor of a certain cable news program:
Me: I was dismayed to see Mr. XXXXX's interview with the new president of the RIAA on Monday night. The issue of downloading music from the internet is not quite as clear-cut as your show presented. It would have been much more interesting to have the RIAA president interviewed side-by-side with a representative from the file-sharing community. The issue of illegal music downloads is the tip of the iceberg for a range of important topics concerning the meaning and relevance of intellectual property and copyright in the 21st century. You are missing a valuable opportunity to examine these complex and important issues and are doing a poor job of reporting impartially when you conclude such a one-sided interview with a comment along the lines of "we wish you good luck" as you did with the RIAA president.
Mr. XXXXX: thanks for the note. My daughter shares your view. She's wrong too:) Stealing is stealing and this is theft. Do I think the industry has handled this correctly? I think my questions suggest probably not. But at the end of the day it is stealing. I am a bit at a loss that you see it otherwise.
I did send a follow-up email that made another attempt that persuing the file-sharing story beyond the shallow depth that they have been could lead to some interesting material for them. I never received a reply.
I was disappointed that this particular individual who, supposedly, is always interested in finding the hidden story behind the headlines, was so quick to compare me to his (persumably) young and immature daughter. I don't believe his quick dismissal of my point was due to spite or pressure from his boss. I think it's just because almost no one (outside of slashdot and a few other niche places) seems to realize that there are much bigger issues at stake here.
I think we need to somehow get "one of us" on one of these news programs to help "the masses" see that there is really an important battle coming in the very, very near future. That being, of course, the collison course you mentioned. How we get someone from our side on one of these programs is beyond me...
GMD
Great idea... ...as long as I know where the mute button is
I can easily see stores providing a mute button but rewarding you for keeping it on in the form of a 1% discount at the register or accumulation of "BonusBux" or something like that. Kinda like ad-supported software. If they put a mute button on there (and I'm sure people will demand it), they're going to have to give us some incentive to make sure we don't all automatically engage that function.
GMD
I notice you haven't bought contraceptives in the past couple weeks.
I didn't read the article (of course) but I don't think I'd object too much to these carts unless they were actually keeping track of my purchases over "the past couple weeks" as you imply. If it's just making suggestions based on what's currently in my cart (and it doesn't know who I am) I don't see this as too different my TiVo taking it upon itself to record programs it thinks I might like. Hell, it's not really an invasion of privacy just to point out what's clearly in my shopping cart anyhow. The voice thing is annoying but I'm not sure it's going to be too different from those people who use their cell phones in the grocery stores to carry on irrelevant conversations out of boredom.
GMD
That was my reaction, too, but in all fairness a large part of the virus-infection problem lies with the end user who clicks on every attachment they receive. Perhaps Microsoft should put some effort into making an Online Help or "Intro to Windows" that's interesting enough to make the average user sit through it once. And make sure to stress some basic security practices in these presentations.
GMD
Look, I hate reckless drivers as much as the next guy. Actually, probably more so because I have to deal with college kids who drive so bad you wouldn't believe. A lot of them simply don't stop for stop signs in spite of the fact that many of them drive heavy/powerful trucks and there are lots of young children in the area.
But here's what spooks so many people about this newest case: it sets a frightening prescedent that will surely be used in other less-clearcut cases. Your comment is dangerously close to "Well, so what if some cop broke into someone's house without a warrant? It turns out that guy was a pedophile and had tons of kiddie porn! If he hadn't gone the extra mile, that creep would still be out on the streets!" It's all too easy for people to applaud the use of hidden technology to nail a "bad guy" when the crime is so heinous to many of us. But once we start on the slippery slope, prosecuters will start using these hidden technologies for cases that you might not be quite so thrilled about. It'll be too late then.
I can't tell if you're one of those "the ends justify the means" guys or you simply didn't think too much before posting your comment. But I'm never going to be a fan of the government (or corporations) spying on us, even when that is used sometimes for cases that I personally like. That, my friend, is "exactly how" this new development is bad. Yes, I admit that I'm somewhat relieved that we've gotten another nutball off the road. But something like this can open the door to a whole host of nasty things down the road.
GMD
Seriously, the methane angle has already been proposed a long time ago. And anytime you hear something fantasitical, you should at least consult the skepdic site to see what rational people are thinking. Here's the link for Bermuda Triangle accidents. Most skeptics think pirates are the real cause of disappearances.
GMD
Well one of the labs in the running is actually developing them for use in fusion, this is a side effect kinda thing, and the military paying for the weapon would help fund the research side of things. NOthing pushed forward technology like military spending
Whether we like it or not, the US spends as much on defense as the next 10-15 countries combined. Many R&D innovations start off as defense-related technologies and only later get applied to civilian problems. That's because our government is much more likely to fund research that has military uses. Other countries (e.g., Japan, Germany) are more likely to help corporations with their R&D project. Not the US.
GMD
This invention might lower the tragedies of war if we have the intell to discriminate accurately. It might also increase collateral damage/friendly fire if the device inspires overconfidence in those who press the trigger.
The military is heavily funding research into what they call "total battlefield awareness" which can be thought of as identifing every object in the battlespace. I think the idea behind this article is that if that research goes well, and the laser research goes well then we might finally be able to drastically reduce civilian casualities.
A large part of the problem is that most of America's adversaries purposefully mix their military forces in with civilians to prevent us from firing upon them. The pinpoint accuracy that laser weapons could give us might be enough to prevent our enemimes from using their own population as human shields.
GMD
The thing that bothers me so much about the coverage that John Edwards gets is not so much that he's spouting bullshit. There are tons of people who do that. What upsets me is that he is preying on people who have suffered emotional losses and is preventing them from achieving a natural recovery. I'm flabergasted that no one has publically gastigated him for this.
For those unfamiliar, Edwards claims to be a psychic who communicates with the dead. So people who have lost a loved one and are having troubles letting go come to his show and ask Edwards to help them communicate with the deceased. I won't go into the details of Edwards' tricks on how he gives the illusion of a successful communication. The problem is that once someone "hears" from their dead friend/spouse/lover/etc., they are essentially deprived of the opportunity to make final peace and closure with the death. After all, you can always go back to Edwards or some other psychic and have another "last conversation" with them, right?
Any psychotherapist will tell you that closure is a very diffcult but important thing for someone who is grieving to achieve. Edwards, by claiming to circumvent the absolute ending of death, is depriving these people of that finality that they require to move on with their life. There's nothing wrong with remembering a loved one, of course. But what Edwards is doing is just plain wrong. It's not just fraud -- it's cruel and I believe it causes signficant emotional damage to those who fall for his tricks by preventing the natural healing mechanism of closure from ever really taking place.
GMD