The Empire Stumbles Posted by JonKatz on Tuesday May 28, @09:30AM from the why-Star-Wars-got-unseated-by-the-kids dept. We saw a cultural and generational coup d'etat this month, at least in cinematic terms -- if we were watching. Star Wars was challenged by millions of rebellious kids, who decided to choose a new kind of myth. The next generation unseated its elders -- as is the right of every generation - and is making its own culture, moving away from ours. In doing so, these kids balked at mega-hype, rediscovered earnestness, simplicity, the love story, some patriotism, punctured a billion-dollar balloon, and maybe even sparked a (relative) movement away from whorish sellouts, back to simpler story-telling. I, for one, sure hope so.
The evidence: In its first four days, Star Wars: Episode 2 -- Attack of the Clones sold nearly $117 million worth of tickets. When Spider-man opened two weeks earlier, it earned $115 million in just three days. Not only that, but the nerd-arachnoid drama earned another $48 million in box office during the weekend George Lucas' elephantine epic opened. And it shows no signs of slowing down. Spider-man is now on track to massacre Star Wars, perhaps out-earning it in the early days of the summer by as much as $100 million, if projected patterns continue. What happened? You can hardly call Clones a failure, but seeing it seems as much a reflex as a choice. And the grosses are below expectations, where as Spider-man is re-defining what a mega-hit movie is. I think Lucas and his movies have outgrown their audience, losing relevance to the young, the real avatars of culture, and are suffocating under their own enormous inertia and weight.
The late mythologist Joseph Campbell (who helped Lucas craft the Skywalker/Vader saga) wrote in The Elements of Myth that the hero-journey -- the often rebellious trek far from loved ones and home, finds a great teacher, battles evil forces in the world -- is inherent in every great myth, from cave-dweller's tales to Tolkien to Star Wars. It's certainly central to the story of Peter Parker, an unhappy and awkward kid who overnight goes from suffering at a nasty Queens high school to soaring over Manhattan's skyscrapers in search of the Green Goblin (this movie's Dark Side rep). In fact, every great myth has a lonely hero, a masked villain or two, and thinly-disguised spiritual choices between forces of good (God/a.k.a. The Force) or Evil (the literal Dark Side of the universe which shows up, Campbell wrote, in paintings that are thousands of years old.)
Why is Spider-Man's version surprisingly drubbing Lucas's, when he's cornered the global franchise on cinematic myth-marketing and he's one of the master cinematic marketers and hype-meisters of all time?
Several possible reasons. The Spider-Man saga is a simple love/adventure story, much like the first Star Wars, which didn't take itself nearly as seriously as the pompous sequels, pre-quels and tie-ins hatched at Lucas's secret ranch. In Spider-man, a nerd feels powerless, gets bitten by the bug, becomes powerful, goes on to confront great evil (and doesn't get the girl). Luke Skywalker, too, was powerless and trapped when we first met him. Then he met Obi-Wan, got in touch with the Force, went soaring around the universe to battle evil -- and didn't get the girl, either. Since the audience and industry expectations of Spider-Man were lower, the movie could afford to be looser, jokier -- more human. But poor George Lucas had dug himself a monstrous hole.
Simply because it's new (on film, at least) , Spider-Man arrives shrouded in less hype than Star Wars. When George Lucas decided to resuscitate his epic after a nearly generation-long respite, he could have chosen at least somewhat of a classier route and put some limits on the marketing that now engulfs big movies. Instead he acted like Jabba the Hutt, gorging on every dollar he could get. The producers of Lord Of The Rings curbed the marketing and toy tie-ins with corporations peddling food and dolls to kids out of respect for Tolkien. That makes Lucas, who showed no such restraint, all the more hypocritical and pretentious - polluting the series with trolls, Ewoks, aliens, soldiers, Jar-Jar Binks and his goofy patois, and all their inevitable action figures, light sabres, T-shirts and soda-cup representations.
Lucas created a brilliant film saga, then undercut it by demonstrating that there were few limits -- maybe no limits -- on what he would do to make still more money. The message to kids especially was follow the Force, but rake in the cash.
A franchise like Star Wars ought to be allowed to -- and can afford to -- retain some of its dignity and still make tens of millions. The movies make a fortune in their own right, a common experience that transcends reviews and tie-ins. When is enough enough? Lucas crossed the line, and cheapened his movies.
He also neglected to bone up on Campbell's books on the power and elements of myth. Spider-man is a simple love story about teen-aged angst: a kid almost anybody can relate to is suddenly transformed by a great power, grapples touchingly and hilariously to come to terms with that, and confronts a single bad guy and vanquishes him, though not without cost. Sound familiar? It ought to. That was more or less the feeling, despite the Imperial Death Star, of the original Star Wars. Spider-man was a cartoon myth -- part of the once-brilliant Marvel Comics factory, balm to nerds of the time -- and the movie doesn't forget its roots in the dialogue, plotting or action.
But what is Attack of the Clones about? The Skywalker genealogy? The Empire's evil origins? The birth of the Empire's Troopers? The rise and fall of the Queen of Naboo and her tormented lover and complex offspring? Trade unions and their relationship to the Galaxy? Legislative bodies and their place in galactic history? Lucas approaches the life and times of Darth Vader in much the same way biographer Robert Caro explores the life and times of ex-president LBJ (his latest book that's 1,300 pages long -- and that's just one volume of a projected four). Do we really care precisely how Anakin Skywalker got pissed off and turned to the Dark Side? Or would we -- especially the youngest among us -- be happy to see Yoda flashing his light-saber around and doing his Jackie Chan imitation?
Spider-Man is interesting on other levels, too. It's a very New York movie, set in working-class Queens and amidst the spires of Manhattan. It is unabashedly domestic and patriotic, even as Star Wars is pointedly other-worldly in tone and feel. Consider the Spider-man scene where New Yorkers cheer our hero from the Queensborough Bridge. It's heavy-handed but interesting. The movie ends with Spider-man draped around an American flag on a skyscraper not far from where the World Trade Center Towers used to stand. Holed up in his California cocoon, Lucas seemed to fall out of touch with post-9/11 America. He had too much genealogy to worry about. But the producers of Spider-Man, with a few last-minute adjustments, read it right. Star Wars was conceived in an era when Harrison Ford's Han Solo perfectly typified a generation's disenchantment with government and politics. Peter Parker has a different view, and so do the millions of kids making his movie a smash.
Attack Of The Clones is a cautionary tale, all right, but perhaps not the one Lucas intended. The real lesson is, if you're trying to make great movies aimed primarily at the young, avoid pomposity, self-indulgence and too much self-reference. Keep the story simple, clear and touching. Remember that movies mirror life. Films like this are about love, loss, conflict and fantasy. Spider-Man keeps that very much in mind. Attack Of The Clones seems to have forgotten it. That's why kids are flocking repeatedly to a new variety of myth, unseating the reigning one.
Posted by CmdrTaco on Friday May 31, @08:19AM from the its-not-unitedgnulinux-anyway dept. dep writes "Likening the practice to Windows, Richard M. Stallman has issued a brief statement condemning the per-seat licensing that it appears will be employed in the "UnitedLinux" core distribution. He calls upon developers to refuse to allow their work to be used by such a distribution."
( Read More... | 146 comments )
Developers: Google Programming Contest Winner Posted by michael on Friday May 31, @07:27AM from the check-out-the-big-brain-on-brad dept. asqui writes "The First Annual Google Programming Contest, announced about 4 months ago has ended. The winner is Daniel Egnor, a former Microsoft employee. His project converted addresses found in documents to latitude-longitude coordinates and built a two-dimensional index of these coordinates, thereby allowing you to limit your query to a certain radius from a geographical location. Good for difficult questions like "Where is the nearest all-night pizza place that will deliver at this hour?". Unfortunately there is no mention whether this technology is on its way to the google labs yet. There are also details of 5 other excellent project submissions that didn't quite make it."
( Read More... | 124 comments | Developers )
Behind the Satellite Piracy Lawsuit Posted by michael on Friday May 31, @06:42AM from the spy-v.-spy dept. McSpew writes "This article at MSNBC is the most in-depth coverage I've seen from a mainstream news source about the $1 Billion Canal Plus lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch-owned NDS. For those not familiar with the suit, French direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) company Canal Plus alleges that NDS, a company owned by News Corp (which also owns BSkyB--Canal Plus's biggest competitor in Europe) hacked the smart cards used by Canal Plus and published the hacks on the Internet. Included in the article are conspiracy theories, a suspicious death and a look at the shady characters working for both sides." We had a previous story about this.
( Read More... | 54 comments )
Your Rights Online: Surveillance Update Posted by michael on Friday May 31, @05:46AM from the watching-us-watching-them dept. Several things occurred within the past few days on the privacy/surveillance frontier. First, the EU Parliament decision we mentioned yesterday is being widely reported as an assault on privacy (the European press barely mentions the spam angle we covered yesterday). As far as I can tell, this decision will loosen the EU's protections against surveillance, but does not implement any spying itself - national governments are free to NOT spy on their citizens, in the (perhaps unlikely) event that they don't want to do so. In the U.S., the FBI will be increasing their general surveillance - that is, they'll be doing more surveillance unrelated to any suspected crime, using commercial databases, etc. We can expect the Bureau to be used for more overtly political uses in the future - spying on the not-in-power political parties is no longer prohibited and will, therefore, occur. The NYT has an interesting analysis. Finally, the Washington Post reports that banks will be creating a massive financial database/blacklist of terrorists, wife-beaters, anti-globalization protesters, etc.
( Read More... | 198 comments | Your Rights Online )
WiFi & Cellular Unite Posted by Hemos on Friday May 31, @04:37AM from the get-together-right-now dept. blake213 writes "Newsfactor is reporting a story on how WiFi Metro and Green Packet are teaming up to do a 90-day field test of combined WiFi and cellular romaing technologies in the S.F. Bay Area. Supposedly a user can roam between two coverage areas with uninterrupted service."
( Read More... | 48 comments )
April 1, 1972: Write Only Memory Posted by CmdrTaco on Friday May 31, @02:54AM from the it-was-funny-before-i-was-born dept. Embedded Geek writes "While digging around Jack Ganssle's site, I came across an amusing prank from days gone by. In 1972 Signetics recognized April Fools day by printing a full color datasheet (scanned sheet 1 and sheet 2 here) for a Write-Only Memory (which accepts data but never reads it back), a considerable effort when documents were made via literal "cut and paste". Packed with jokes both obvious (a graph of "number of pins left versus number of insertions") and subtle ("Vdd = 0V +/- 2%") it's worth a chuckle."
( Read More... | 148 comments )
Transmeta Unveils 256-bit Microprocessor Plans Posted by chrisd on Friday May 31, @12:07AM from the that's-a-lot-of-bits dept. nam37 writes "PCWorld has an article about how Transmeta has outlined its initial plans for a new 256-bit microprocessor dubed the TM8000. They claim it will offer significant advantages over their current TM5x00 line of chips. The processor will be a switch to a 256-bit VLIW (very long instruction word), allowing twice as many instructions in one clock cycle and greater energy efficiency." The article also touches on the popularity Transmeta enjoys in Japan, noting that 92% (CD: corrected from 55%) of the company's revenue comes from there.
( Read More... | 157 comments )
Carmack on Doom 3 Video Cards Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday May 30, @10:51PM from the take-note-hemos dept. mr_sheel writes "According to a Gamespy interview with John Carmack, Carmack says what he thinks about the video cards with Doom3: ATI Radeon 8500 is a better card, with a nicer fragment path, while NVidia still consistently runs faster due to better drivers. And of course, the GeForce SDR cards will not be "fast enough to play the game properly unless you run at 320x240 or so." And in a ShackNews interview with Carmack, he says that Doom 3 at E3 was only running at medium quality... wow."
( Read More... | 278 comments )
Do-it-yourself UPS Posted by michael on Thursday May 30, @08:23PM from the shocking-experience dept. Giampiero writes "Over at dansdata.com some guy named Dan creates a UPS out of some spare parts. To sum it up, "if you're looking for an industrial-capacity UPS solution, and don't like the prices of the off-the-peg options, it might be easier than you think to roll your own."" Of course you can mentally substitute U.S. 110 volts for Australian 220 volts wherever necessary...
( Read More... | 329 comments )
Slashback: Pricedrops, Honor, Games Posted by timothy on Thursday May 30, @05:59PM from the my-mozilla-says-one-point-oh dept. Slashback (below) is chock full of updates to recent (and not recent) Slashdot stories, including some good news for AMD fans, and a last drizzle of news from E3.
( Read More... | 3968 bytes in body | 258 comments )
Word Viewer 97
You can use Microsoft Word Viewer 97 to open and view Word documents. Word Viewer 97 includes the following features:
Online Layout View for easy reading of online documents, including those with background colors and textures
Document Map for point-and-click navigation through longer documents
Hyperlink navigation to open any hyperlink in a document with your installed browser
Although you cannot edit files in Word Viewer 97, you can copy information from a document to other applications.
Microsoft Word Viewer 97 follows hyperlinks located in Word documents. Word Viewer 97 automatically configures itself as a helper application for Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. This allows users to automatically view Word documents that are linked to HTML pages on a LAN or on the Web in the user's default Web browser.
This product is freeware. You can copy and distribute Word Viewer to your friends and co-workers or post it on public electronic bulletin boards. Word Viewer 97 is also available from the Microsoft Download Service at (425) 936-6735.
System Requirements
A personal computer with a 486 or later processor
Microsoft Windows 95 or later operating system or Microsoft Windows NT® 3.51 Workstation or later operating system
4 MB of RAM for Windows 95 (8 MB recommended)
12 MB of RAM for Windows NT Workstation
7 MB of hard disk space (9 MB free for installation only)
VGA or higher-resolution video adapter
Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
To install Word Viewer 97:
You can print this page to use as a reference when you are offline.
Open the \Docs directory on the Exchange 2000 Server CD and double-click wd97vwr32.exe.
During installation, Word Viewer 97 Setup prompts you for a folder in which to install Word Viewer. Click Change Folder and select the path for installing Word Viewer 97 or click OK to accept the default folder.
Click Install.
If Word Viewer Setup detects Word version 6.x or later on your system, Setup prompts you to choose which application opens Word documents by default. When you double-click on a file with a.rtf file extension, Windows uses the default application to open the file.
Choosing Open with Word causes Windows to use Word to open Word files.
Choosing Open with Viewer causes Word Viewer 97 to open Word files.
Note: If you select Open with Viewer and you want to restore Word as the default Word document handler, you may have to uninstall Word Viewer and then start Word so that it can restore its Registry information. For more information see "Installation and Maintenance" in the Word Viewer 97 Readme.doc installed with the viewer.
To use Word Viewer 97:
On the Start menu, point to Programs, and then click Word Viewer 97.
On the File menu, click Open and then double-click the file you want to open.
To uninstall Word Viewer 97:
On the Start menu, point to Settings and click Control Panel. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
In the list on the Install/Uninstall tab, select Microsoft Word Viewer 97, and click Add/Remove.
To remove the application, click Yes.
To finish removing the program, click OK.
Word Viewer 97
You can use Microsoft Word Viewer 97 to open and view Word documents. Word Viewer 97 includes the following features:
Online Layout View for easy reading of online documents, including those with background colors and textures
Document Map for point-and-click navigation through longer documents
Hyperlink navigation to open any hyperlink in a document with your installed browser
Although you cannot edit files in Word Viewer 97, you can copy information from a document to other applications.
Microsoft Word Viewer 97 follows hyperlinks located in Word documents. Word Viewer 97 automatically configures itself as a helper application for Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. This allows users to automatically view Word documents that are linked to HTML pages on a LAN or on the Web in the user's default Web browser.
This product is freeware. You can copy and distribute Word Viewer to your friends and co-workers or post it on public electronic bulletin boards. Word Viewer 97 is also available from the Microsoft Download Service at (425) 936-6735.
System Requirements
A personal computer with a 486 or later processor
Microsoft Windows 95 or later operating system or Microsoft Windows NT® 3.51 Workstation or later operating system
4 MB of RAM for Windows 95 (8 MB recommended)
12 MB of RAM for Windows NT Workstation
7 MB of hard disk space (9 MB free for installation only)
VGA or higher-resolution video adapter
Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
To install Word Viewer 97:
You can print this page to use as a reference when you are offline.
Open the \Docs directory on the Exchange 2000 Server CD and double-click wd97vwr32.exe.
During installation, Word Viewer 97 Setup prompts you for a folder in which to install Word Viewer. Click Change Folder and select the path for installing Word Viewer 97 or click OK to accept the default folder.
Click Install.
If Word Viewer Setup detects Word version 6.x or later on your system, Setup prompts you to choose which application opens Word documents by default. When you double-click on a file with a.rtf file extension, Windows uses the default application to open the file.
Choosing Open with Word causes Windows to use Word to open Word files.
Choosing Open with Viewer causes Word Viewer 97 to open Word files.
Note: If you select Open with Viewer and you want to restore Word as the default Word document handler, you may have to uninstall Word Viewer and then start Word so that it can restore its Registry information. For more information see "Installation and Maintenance" in the Word Viewer 97 Readme.doc installed with the viewer.
To use Word Viewer 97:
On the Start menu, point to Programs, and then click Word Viewer 97.
On the File menu, click Open and then double-click the file you want to open.
To uninstall Word Viewer 97:
On the Start menu, point to Settings and click Control Panel. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
In the list on the Install/Uninstall tab, select Microsoft Word Viewer 97, and click Add/Remove.
To remove the application, click Yes.
To finish removing the program, click OK.
Caldera, Conectiva, SuSE, Turbolinux Partner To Create UnitedLinux, And Produce A Uniform Version Of Linux For Business Majority of enterprise system and software vendors including AMD, Borland, Computer Associates, Fujitsu Siemens, Fujitsu Japan, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, NEC, and SAP, support effort to create standard Linux platform
LINDON, Utah, PARAISO, Brazil, NUREMBERG, Germany, and BRISBANE, Calif. -May 30, 2002- Linux Industry leaders Caldera International, Inc. (Nasdaq: CALD), Conectiva S.A., SuSE Linux AG, and Turbolinux, Inc., today announced the organization of UnitedLinux, a new initiative that will streamline Linux development and certification around a global, uniform distribution of Linux designed for business. UnitedLinux addresses enterprise customers' need for a standard, business-focused Linux distribution that is certified to work across hardware and software platforms, accelerating the adoption of Linux in the enterprise. Under terms of the agreement, the four companies will collaborate on the development of one common core Linux operating environment, called UnitedLinux software. The four partners will each bundle value added products and services with the UnitedLinux operating system and the resulting offering will be marketed and sold by each of the four partners under their own brands.
Nearly every vendor supplying a piece of the technology infrastructure used by businesses has expressed support for UnitedLinux, including systems and software vendors AMD, Borland, Computer Associates, Fujitsu Siemens, Fujitsu Japan, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, NEC, and SAP. Independent hardware and software vendors spend considerable effort certifying their products and services on individual Linux distributions to ensure product compatibility for their customers. UnitedLinux will significantly diminish the number of distributions that vendors are asked to certify and will provide a true standards-based Linux operating environment.
Customers Benefit Through Unity
According to research firm IDC, a 2001 survey of 800 North American and Western European companies found that 40% of the respondents were either using or testing Linux in their organizations. UnitedLinux will help further speed enterprise adoption of Linux by providing businesses with a greater choice in the number of applications and hardware certified to work on the uniform version of Linux. Customers will also benefit from the global sales, localization, education, support and services that all four UnitedLinux vendors will collectively provide. The collaboration of the four leading Linux companies will result in an enterprise Linux offering, which is truly global by virtue of the companies' ability to provide local language support, training and professional services, in addition to the support of strategic partners. UnitedLinux will provide one unified Linux code base for IBM's complete eServer product line and AMD 32-bit and 64- bit platform and Intel's x86 32-bit and Itanium(tm) processor family platforms. UnitedLinux supports LSB, Li18nux, and GB18030 standards, as well as enabling installations in English, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese languages.
In addition UnitedLinux unleashes a massive research and development organization for Linux in the enterprise. Effectively, the four companies involved in this process will shift dollars and resources once allocated to creating and maintaining custom Linux operating environments and divert them to new R&D on Linux enterprise software. UnitedLinux is dedicated to bolstering the enterprise readiness of the platform, but in the same collaborative spirit from which Linux was founded and continues to flourish.
Participation and Availability
While today's announcement outlines the founding members of UnitedLinux, the initiative is open for additional Linux companies to participate. The four partners currently plan to each offer their own server products based on UnitedLinux by the end of 2002. For additional information on UnitedLinux, contact Caldera, Conectiva, SuSE or Turbolinux or go to www.unitedlinux.com.
About UnitedLinux
UnitedLinux is a standards-based, worldwide Linux solution targeted at the business user and developed by Caldera, Conectiva, SuSE, and Turbolinux. Designed to be an enterprise-class, industry-standard Linux operating system, UnitedLinux provides a single stable, uniform platform for application development, certification, and deployment, and allows Linux vendors, Independent Software Vendors, Independent Hardware Vendors, and Original Equipment Makers to support a single high value Linux offering. For more information, go to UnitedLinux
Slashdot Mirror
Love Always,
News For Turds
Nice spelling, h4X0r boy
Let's hear it for all da logged in trolls! CLIT! Woohoo!
Ok... Say it with me...
G to da mutha phukken oatse
C to da mutha phukken izzzzzzex
HellZ yeah, you know how it is bizznitch
[slashdot.org][slashdot.org]dumbass[slashdot . rg]
The Empire Stumbles
Posted by JonKatz on Tuesday May 28, @09:30AM
from the why-Star-Wars-got-unseated-by-the-kids dept.
We saw a cultural and generational coup d'etat this month, at least in cinematic terms -- if we were watching. Star Wars was challenged by millions of rebellious kids, who decided to choose a new kind of myth. The next generation unseated its elders -- as is the right of every generation - and is making its own culture, moving away from ours. In doing so, these kids balked at mega-hype, rediscovered earnestness, simplicity, the love story, some patriotism, punctured a billion-dollar balloon, and maybe even sparked a (relative) movement away from whorish sellouts, back to simpler story-telling. I, for one, sure hope so.
The evidence: In its first four days, Star Wars: Episode 2 -- Attack of the Clones sold nearly $117 million worth of tickets. When Spider-man opened two weeks earlier, it earned $115 million in just three days. Not only that, but the nerd-arachnoid drama earned another $48 million in box office during the weekend George Lucas' elephantine epic opened. And it shows no signs of slowing down. Spider-man is now on track to massacre Star Wars, perhaps out-earning it in the early days of the summer by as much as $100 million, if projected patterns continue. What happened? You can hardly call Clones a failure, but seeing it seems as much a reflex as a choice. And the grosses are below expectations, where as Spider-man is re-defining what a mega-hit movie is. I think Lucas and his movies have outgrown their audience, losing relevance to the young, the real avatars of culture, and are suffocating under their own enormous inertia and weight.
The late mythologist Joseph Campbell (who helped Lucas craft the Skywalker/Vader saga) wrote in The Elements of Myth that the hero-journey -- the often rebellious trek far from loved ones and home, finds a great teacher, battles evil forces in the world -- is inherent in every great myth, from cave-dweller's tales to Tolkien to Star Wars. It's certainly central to the story of Peter Parker, an unhappy and awkward kid who overnight goes from suffering at a nasty Queens high school to soaring over Manhattan's skyscrapers in search of the Green Goblin (this movie's Dark Side rep). In fact, every great myth has a lonely hero, a masked villain or two, and thinly-disguised spiritual choices between forces of good (God/a.k.a. The Force) or Evil (the literal Dark Side of the universe which shows up, Campbell wrote, in paintings that are thousands of years old.)
Why is Spider-Man's version surprisingly drubbing Lucas's, when he's cornered the global franchise on cinematic myth-marketing and he's one of the master cinematic marketers and hype-meisters of all time?
Several possible reasons. The Spider-Man saga is a simple love/adventure story, much like the first Star Wars, which didn't take itself nearly as seriously as the pompous sequels, pre-quels and tie-ins hatched at Lucas's secret ranch. In Spider-man, a nerd feels powerless, gets bitten by the bug, becomes powerful, goes on to confront great evil (and doesn't get the girl). Luke Skywalker, too, was powerless and trapped when we first met him. Then he met Obi-Wan, got in touch with the Force, went soaring around the universe to battle evil -- and didn't get the girl, either. Since the audience and industry expectations of Spider-Man were lower, the movie could afford to be looser, jokier -- more human. But poor George Lucas had dug himself a monstrous hole.
Simply because it's new (on film, at least) , Spider-Man arrives shrouded in less hype than Star Wars. When George Lucas decided to resuscitate his epic after a nearly generation-long respite, he could have chosen at least somewhat of a classier route and put some limits on the marketing that now engulfs big movies. Instead he acted like Jabba the Hutt, gorging on every dollar he could get. The producers of Lord Of The Rings curbed the marketing and toy tie-ins with corporations peddling food and dolls to kids out of respect for Tolkien. That makes Lucas, who showed no such restraint, all the more hypocritical and pretentious - polluting the series with trolls, Ewoks, aliens, soldiers, Jar-Jar Binks and his goofy patois, and all their inevitable action figures, light sabres, T-shirts and soda-cup representations.
Lucas created a brilliant film saga, then undercut it by demonstrating that there were few limits -- maybe no limits -- on what he would do to make still more money. The message to kids especially was follow the Force, but rake in the cash.
A franchise like Star Wars ought to be allowed to -- and can afford to -- retain some of its dignity and still make tens of millions. The movies make a fortune in their own right, a common experience that transcends reviews and tie-ins. When is enough enough? Lucas crossed the line, and cheapened his movies.
He also neglected to bone up on Campbell's books on the power and elements of myth. Spider-man is a simple love story about teen-aged angst: a kid almost anybody can relate to is suddenly transformed by a great power, grapples touchingly and hilariously to come to terms with that, and confronts a single bad guy and vanquishes him, though not without cost. Sound familiar? It ought to. That was more or less the feeling, despite the Imperial Death Star, of the original Star Wars. Spider-man was a cartoon myth -- part of the once-brilliant Marvel Comics factory, balm to nerds of the time -- and the movie doesn't forget its roots in the dialogue, plotting or action.
But what is Attack of the Clones about? The Skywalker genealogy? The Empire's evil origins? The birth of the Empire's Troopers? The rise and fall of the Queen of Naboo and her tormented lover and complex offspring? Trade unions and their relationship to the Galaxy? Legislative bodies and their place in galactic history? Lucas approaches the life and times of Darth Vader in much the same way biographer Robert Caro explores the life and times of ex-president LBJ (his latest book that's 1,300 pages long -- and that's just one volume of a projected four). Do we really care precisely how Anakin Skywalker got pissed off and turned to the Dark Side? Or would we -- especially the youngest among us -- be happy to see Yoda flashing his light-saber around and doing his Jackie Chan imitation?
Spider-Man is interesting on other levels, too. It's a very New York movie, set in working-class Queens and amidst the spires of Manhattan. It is unabashedly domestic and patriotic, even as Star Wars is pointedly other-worldly in tone and feel. Consider the Spider-man scene where New Yorkers cheer our hero from the Queensborough Bridge. It's heavy-handed but interesting. The movie ends with Spider-man draped around an American flag on a skyscraper not far from where the World Trade Center Towers used to stand. Holed up in his California cocoon, Lucas seemed to fall out of touch with post-9/11 America. He had too much genealogy to worry about. But the producers of Spider-Man, with a few last-minute adjustments, read it right. Star Wars was conceived in an era when Harrison Ford's Han Solo perfectly typified a generation's disenchantment with government and politics. Peter Parker has a different view, and so do the millions of kids making his movie a smash.
Attack Of The Clones is a cautionary tale, all right, but perhaps not the one Lucas intended. The real lesson is, if you're trying to make great movies aimed primarily at the young, avoid pomposity, self-indulgence and too much self-reference. Keep the story simple, clear and touching. Remember that movies mirror life. Films like this are about love, loss, conflict and fantasy. Spider-Man keeps that very much in mind. Attack Of The Clones seems to have forgotten it. That's why kids are flocking repeatedly to a new variety of myth, unseating the reigning one.
I claim this FP for the CLIT!
Bizzzzzzzzzzznitch
HellZ yeah
Posted by CmdrTaco on Friday May 31, @08:19AM
from the its-not-unitedgnulinux-anyway dept.
dep writes "Likening the practice to Windows, Richard M. Stallman has issued a brief statement condemning the per-seat licensing that it appears will be employed in the "UnitedLinux" core distribution. He calls upon developers to refuse to allow their work to be used by such a distribution."
( Read More... | 146 comments )
Developers: Google Programming Contest Winner
Posted by michael on Friday May 31, @07:27AM
from the check-out-the-big-brain-on-brad dept.
asqui writes "The First Annual Google Programming Contest, announced about 4 months ago has ended. The winner is Daniel Egnor, a former Microsoft employee. His project converted addresses found in documents to latitude-longitude coordinates and built a two-dimensional index of these coordinates, thereby allowing you to limit your query to a certain radius from a geographical location. Good for difficult questions like "Where is the nearest all-night pizza place that will deliver at this hour?". Unfortunately there is no mention whether this technology is on its way to the google labs yet. There are also details of 5 other excellent project submissions that didn't quite make it."
( Read More... | 124 comments | Developers )
Behind the Satellite Piracy Lawsuit
Posted by michael on Friday May 31, @06:42AM
from the spy-v.-spy dept.
McSpew writes "This article at MSNBC is the most in-depth coverage I've seen from a mainstream news source about the $1 Billion Canal Plus lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch-owned NDS. For those not familiar with the suit, French direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) company Canal Plus alleges that NDS, a company owned by News Corp (which also owns BSkyB--Canal Plus's biggest competitor in Europe) hacked the smart cards used by Canal Plus and published the hacks on the Internet. Included in the article are conspiracy theories, a suspicious death and a look at the shady characters working for both sides." We had a previous story about this.
( Read More... | 54 comments )
Your Rights Online: Surveillance Update
Posted by michael on Friday May 31, @05:46AM
from the watching-us-watching-them dept.
Several things occurred within the past few days on the privacy/surveillance frontier. First, the EU Parliament decision we mentioned yesterday is being widely reported as an assault on privacy (the European press barely mentions the spam angle we covered yesterday). As far as I can tell, this decision will loosen the EU's protections against surveillance, but does not implement any spying itself - national governments are free to NOT spy on their citizens, in the (perhaps unlikely) event that they don't want to do so. In the U.S., the FBI will be increasing their general surveillance - that is, they'll be doing more surveillance unrelated to any suspected crime, using commercial databases, etc. We can expect the Bureau to be used for more overtly political uses in the future - spying on the not-in-power political parties is no longer prohibited and will, therefore, occur. The NYT has an interesting analysis. Finally, the Washington Post reports that banks will be creating a massive financial database/blacklist of terrorists, wife-beaters, anti-globalization protesters, etc.
( Read More... | 198 comments | Your Rights Online )
WiFi & Cellular Unite
Posted by Hemos on Friday May 31, @04:37AM
from the get-together-right-now dept.
blake213 writes "Newsfactor is reporting a story on how WiFi Metro and Green Packet are teaming up to do a 90-day field test of combined WiFi and cellular romaing technologies in the S.F. Bay Area. Supposedly a user can roam between two coverage areas with uninterrupted service."
( Read More... | 48 comments )
April 1, 1972: Write Only Memory
Posted by CmdrTaco on Friday May 31, @02:54AM
from the it-was-funny-before-i-was-born dept.
Embedded Geek writes "While digging around Jack Ganssle's site, I came across an amusing prank from days gone by. In 1972 Signetics recognized April Fools day by printing a full color datasheet (scanned sheet 1 and sheet 2 here) for a Write-Only Memory (which accepts data but never reads it back), a considerable effort when documents were made via literal "cut and paste". Packed with jokes both obvious (a graph of "number of pins left versus number of insertions") and subtle ("Vdd = 0V +/- 2%") it's worth a chuckle."
( Read More... | 148 comments )
Transmeta Unveils 256-bit Microprocessor Plans
Posted by chrisd on Friday May 31, @12:07AM
from the that's-a-lot-of-bits dept.
nam37 writes "PCWorld has an article about how Transmeta has outlined its initial plans for a new 256-bit microprocessor dubed the TM8000. They claim it will offer significant advantages over their current TM5x00 line of chips. The processor will be a switch to a 256-bit VLIW (very long instruction word), allowing twice as many instructions in one clock cycle and greater energy efficiency." The article also touches on the popularity Transmeta enjoys in Japan, noting that 92% (CD: corrected from 55%) of the company's revenue comes from there.
( Read More... | 157 comments )
Carmack on Doom 3 Video Cards
Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday May 30, @10:51PM
from the take-note-hemos dept.
mr_sheel writes "According to a Gamespy interview with John Carmack, Carmack says what he thinks about the video cards with Doom3: ATI Radeon 8500 is a better card, with a nicer fragment path, while NVidia still consistently runs faster due to better drivers. And of course, the GeForce SDR cards will not be "fast enough to play the game properly unless you run at 320x240 or so." And in a ShackNews interview with Carmack, he says that Doom 3 at E3 was only running at medium quality... wow."
( Read More... | 278 comments )
Do-it-yourself UPS
Posted by michael on Thursday May 30, @08:23PM
from the shocking-experience dept.
Giampiero writes "Over at dansdata.com some guy named Dan creates a UPS out of some spare parts. To sum it up, "if you're looking for an industrial-capacity UPS solution, and don't like the prices of the off-the-peg options, it might be easier than you think to roll your own."" Of course you can mentally substitute U.S. 110 volts for Australian 220 volts wherever necessary...
( Read More... | 329 comments )
Slashback: Pricedrops, Honor, Games
Posted by timothy on Thursday May 30, @05:59PM
from the my-mozilla-says-one-point-oh dept.
Slashback (below) is chock full of updates to recent (and not recent) Slashdot stories, including some good news for AMD fans, and a last drizzle of news from E3.
( Read More... | 3968 bytes in body | 258 comments )
I hereby claim this FP in the name of the CLIT!
Let's hear it for all da logged in trolls! CLIT! Woohoo!
Ok... Say it with me...
G to da mutha phukken oatse
C to da mutha phukken izzzzzzex
HellZ yeah, you know how it is bizznitch
[slashdot.org][slashdot.org]dumbass[slashdot . rg]
Ok... Say it with me...
G to da mutha phukken oatse
C to da mutha phukken izzzzzzex
HellZ yeah, you know how it is bizznitch
[slashdot.org][slashdot.org]dumbass[slashdot . rg]
goatse
Ok... Say it with me...
G to da mutha phukken oatse
C to da mutha phukken izzzzzzex
HellZ yeah, you know how it is bizznitch
[slashdot.org][slashdot.org]dumbass[slashdot . rg]
Ok... Say it with me...
G to da mutha phukken oatse
C to da mutha phukken izzzzzzex
HellZ yeah, you know how it is bizznitch
[slashdot.org][slashdot.org]dumbass[slashdot . rg]
News for Turds
Word Viewer 97 You can use Microsoft Word Viewer 97 to open and view Word documents. Word Viewer 97 includes the following features: Online Layout View for easy reading of online documents, including those with background colors and textures Document Map for point-and-click navigation through longer documents Hyperlink navigation to open any hyperlink in a document with your installed browser Although you cannot edit files in Word Viewer 97, you can copy information from a document to other applications.
Microsoft Word Viewer 97 follows hyperlinks located in Word documents. Word Viewer 97 automatically configures itself as a helper application for Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. This allows users to automatically view Word documents that are linked to HTML pages on a LAN or on the Web in the user's default Web browser.
This product is freeware. You can copy and distribute Word Viewer to your friends and co-workers or post it on public electronic bulletin boards. Word Viewer 97 is also available from the Microsoft Download Service at (425) 936-6735.
System Requirements A personal computer with a 486 or later processor Microsoft Windows 95 or later operating system or Microsoft Windows NT® 3.51 Workstation or later operating system 4 MB of RAM for Windows 95 (8 MB recommended) 12 MB of RAM for Windows NT Workstation 7 MB of hard disk space (9 MB free for installation only) VGA or higher-resolution video adapter Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
To install Word Viewer 97: You can print this page to use as a reference when you are offline.
Open the \Docs directory on the Exchange 2000 Server CD and double-click wd97vwr32.exe. During installation, Word Viewer 97 Setup prompts you for a folder in which to install Word Viewer. Click Change Folder and select the path for installing Word Viewer 97 or click OK to accept the default folder. Click Install. If Word Viewer Setup detects Word version 6.x or later on your system, Setup prompts you to choose which application opens Word documents by default. When you double-click on a file with a .rtf file extension, Windows uses the default application to open the file.
Choosing Open with Word causes Windows to use Word to open Word files.
Choosing Open with Viewer causes Word Viewer 97 to open Word files.
Note: If you select Open with Viewer and you want to restore Word as the default Word document handler, you may have to uninstall Word Viewer and then start Word so that it can restore its Registry information. For more information see "Installation and Maintenance" in the Word Viewer 97 Readme.doc installed with the viewer.
To use Word Viewer 97: On the Start menu, point to Programs, and then click Word Viewer 97. On the File menu, click Open and then double-click the file you want to open.
To uninstall Word Viewer 97: On the Start menu, point to Settings and click Control Panel. Double-click Add/Remove Programs. In the list on the Install/Uninstall tab, select Microsoft Word Viewer 97, and click Add/Remove. To remove the application, click Yes. To finish removing the program, click OK.
News for Turds
Word Viewer 97 You can use Microsoft Word Viewer 97 to open and view Word documents. Word Viewer 97 includes the following features: Online Layout View for easy reading of online documents, including those with background colors and textures Document Map for point-and-click navigation through longer documents Hyperlink navigation to open any hyperlink in a document with your installed browser Although you cannot edit files in Word Viewer 97, you can copy information from a document to other applications.
Microsoft Word Viewer 97 follows hyperlinks located in Word documents. Word Viewer 97 automatically configures itself as a helper application for Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. This allows users to automatically view Word documents that are linked to HTML pages on a LAN or on the Web in the user's default Web browser.
This product is freeware. You can copy and distribute Word Viewer to your friends and co-workers or post it on public electronic bulletin boards. Word Viewer 97 is also available from the Microsoft Download Service at (425) 936-6735.
System Requirements A personal computer with a 486 or later processor Microsoft Windows 95 or later operating system or Microsoft Windows NT® 3.51 Workstation or later operating system 4 MB of RAM for Windows 95 (8 MB recommended) 12 MB of RAM for Windows NT Workstation 7 MB of hard disk space (9 MB free for installation only) VGA or higher-resolution video adapter Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
To install Word Viewer 97: You can print this page to use as a reference when you are offline.
Open the \Docs directory on the Exchange 2000 Server CD and double-click wd97vwr32.exe. During installation, Word Viewer 97 Setup prompts you for a folder in which to install Word Viewer. Click Change Folder and select the path for installing Word Viewer 97 or click OK to accept the default folder. Click Install. If Word Viewer Setup detects Word version 6.x or later on your system, Setup prompts you to choose which application opens Word documents by default. When you double-click on a file with a .rtf file extension, Windows uses the default application to open the file.
Choosing Open with Word causes Windows to use Word to open Word files.
Choosing Open with Viewer causes Word Viewer 97 to open Word files.
Note: If you select Open with Viewer and you want to restore Word as the default Word document handler, you may have to uninstall Word Viewer and then start Word so that it can restore its Registry information. For more information see "Installation and Maintenance" in the Word Viewer 97 Readme.doc installed with the viewer.
To use Word Viewer 97: On the Start menu, point to Programs, and then click Word Viewer 97. On the File menu, click Open and then double-click the file you want to open.
To uninstall Word Viewer 97: On the Start menu, point to Settings and click Control Panel. Double-click Add/Remove Programs. In the list on the Install/Uninstall tab, select Microsoft Word Viewer 97, and click Add/Remove. To remove the application, click Yes. To finish removing the program, click OK.
inbreb?
. . .
. . . Drumroll please . . .
goatse
Oh, yes. Definitely. It's Canadian.
Let's hear it for all da logged in trolls! CLIT! Woohoo!
Ok... Say it with me...
G to da mutha phukken oatse
C to da mutha phukken izzzzzzex
HellZ yeah, you know how it is bizznitch
[slashdot.org][slashdot.org]dumbass[slashdot . rg]
Now was that good grammar or what?
. . .
. . . And u got modded down. lol. hehe. usuck.
Ok... Say it with me...
G to da mutha phukken oatse
C to da mutha phukken izzzzzzex
HellZ yeah, you know how it is bizznitch
[slashdot.org][slashdot.org]dumbass[slashdot . rg]
I'm telling ya, a recipe for Hot Braised Chicken weould be AWESOME.
Love Always,
News for Turds
Caldera, Conectiva, SuSE, Turbolinux Partner To Create UnitedLinux, And Produce A Uniform Version Of Linux For Business Majority of enterprise system and software vendors including AMD, Borland, Computer Associates, Fujitsu Siemens, Fujitsu Japan, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, NEC, and SAP, support effort to create standard Linux platform
LINDON, Utah, PARAISO, Brazil, NUREMBERG, Germany, and BRISBANE, Calif. -May 30, 2002- Linux Industry leaders Caldera International, Inc. (Nasdaq: CALD), Conectiva S.A., SuSE Linux AG, and Turbolinux, Inc., today announced the organization of UnitedLinux, a new initiative that will streamline Linux development and certification around a global, uniform distribution of Linux designed for business. UnitedLinux addresses enterprise customers' need for a standard, business-focused Linux distribution that is certified to work across hardware and software platforms, accelerating the adoption of Linux in the enterprise. Under terms of the agreement, the four companies will collaborate on the development of one common core Linux operating environment, called UnitedLinux software. The four partners will each bundle value added products and services with the UnitedLinux operating system and the resulting offering will be marketed and sold by each of the four partners under their own brands.
Nearly every vendor supplying a piece of the technology infrastructure used by businesses has expressed support for UnitedLinux, including systems and software vendors AMD, Borland, Computer Associates, Fujitsu Siemens, Fujitsu Japan, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, NEC, and SAP. Independent hardware and software vendors spend considerable effort certifying their products and services on individual Linux distributions to ensure product compatibility for their customers. UnitedLinux will significantly diminish the number of distributions that vendors are asked to certify and will provide a true standards-based Linux operating environment.
Customers Benefit Through Unity According to research firm IDC, a 2001 survey of 800 North American and Western European companies found that 40% of the respondents were either using or testing Linux in their organizations. UnitedLinux will help further speed enterprise adoption of Linux by providing businesses with a greater choice in the number of applications and hardware certified to work on the uniform version of Linux. Customers will also benefit from the global sales, localization, education, support and services that all four UnitedLinux vendors will collectively provide. The collaboration of the four leading Linux companies will result in an enterprise Linux offering, which is truly global by virtue of the companies' ability to provide local language support, training and professional services, in addition to the support of strategic partners. UnitedLinux will provide one unified Linux code base for IBM's complete eServer product line and AMD 32-bit and 64- bit platform and Intel's x86 32-bit and Itanium(tm) processor family platforms. UnitedLinux supports LSB, Li18nux, and GB18030 standards, as well as enabling installations in English, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese languages.
In addition UnitedLinux unleashes a massive research and development organization for Linux in the enterprise. Effectively, the four companies involved in this process will shift dollars and resources once allocated to creating and maintaining custom Linux operating environments and divert them to new R&D on Linux enterprise software. UnitedLinux is dedicated to bolstering the enterprise readiness of the platform, but in the same collaborative spirit from which Linux was founded and continues to flourish.
Participation and Availability While today's announcement outlines the founding members of UnitedLinux, the initiative is open for additional Linux companies to participate. The four partners currently plan to each offer their own server products based on UnitedLinux by the end of 2002. For additional information on UnitedLinux, contact Caldera, Conectiva, SuSE or Turbolinux or go to www.unitedlinux.com.
About UnitedLinux UnitedLinux is a standards-based, worldwide Linux solution targeted at the business user and developed by Caldera, Conectiva, SuSE, and Turbolinux. Designed to be an enterprise-class, industry-standard Linux operating system, UnitedLinux provides a single stable, uniform platform for application development, certification, and deployment, and allows Linux vendors, Independent Software Vendors, Independent Hardware Vendors, and Original Equipment Makers to support a single high value Linux offering. For more information, go to UnitedLinux
Linux really sux compared to FreeBSD. You can all suck my balls.