The prequels, and especially the replacement of the original trilogy with the "re-mastered" Lucas-edited crap are great examples of how destructive exclusive IP can be to creative works.
"The ultimate single-minded, self-centered creature is a cancer cell."
That is what George Lucas became to his own films. After a great piece of artwork has become culturally accepted, it should be cast in stone, and be preserved as it is.
The franchise is dead. Lucas killed it. Not worth the emotional investment to lament or analyze.
Move on, people.
Not quite that simple.
I want the Original Theatrical Release of Episodes IV, V, and VI in stores, along with a promise from Lucas and his estate that these films will always remain untouched and available alongside any 're-mastered' versions.
I haven't seen it, but I'm glad someone devoted the time to do this.
The prequels, and especially the replacement of the original trilogy with the "re-mastered" Lucas-edited crap are great examples of how destructive exclusive IP can be to creative works.
"The ultimate single-minded, self-centered creature is a cancer cell."
That is what George Lucas became to his own films. After a great piece of artwork has become culturally accepted, it should be cast in stone, and be preserved as it is.
A new study by a team from Rutgers and Columbia has discovered that poorer children are more likely to be given powerful antipsychotic drugs. According to the NY Times (login required), 'children covered by Medicaid are given powerful antipsychotic medicines at a rate four times higher than children whose parents have private insurance. And the Medicaid children are more likely to receive the drugs for less severe conditions than their middle-class counterparts.' It raises the question: 'Do too many children from poor families receive powerful psychiatric drugs not because they actually need them -- but because it is deemed the most efficient and cost-effective way to control problems that may be handled much differently for middle-class children?' Two possible explanations are offered: 'insurance reimbursements, as Medicaid often pays much less for counseling and therapy than private insurers do', and because of 'the challenges that families in poverty may have in consistently attending counseling or therapy sessions, even when such help is available'. The study is due to be published next year in the journal Health Affairs.
Non of the above.
These people are beta-testing the atypical antipsychotics.
Poor people can't litigate. It makes the drug companies look good by 'helping the poor', and gives them lots of people to test their new drugs on./I've taken these medications//as a class, after 6 months only 30% of people prescribed atypical antipsychotics can remain on them, because the side-effects are so unbearable.
I just find it strange that a company with such a huge revenue stream needs 12 years to crank out a sequel to their most successful single player fantasy title.
I mean, that's like 20 years in old-media time (books, films, etc). Most film sequels...even the really great ones with attention to detail and care for quality like you mention (Aliens for instance)...take 2-6 years tops. The original star wars trilogy was spaced by about 3 years per sequel. 1 year for the LoTR series. I can see building a new game engine taking time, 2-3 years, but 12?
Diablo I 1996 Diablo II 2000 Diablo III 2012?
It doesn't add up. Maybe you're right about WoW. Perhaps it grew so fast and unexpectedly they couldn't afford to assign talent to other projects until now.
The PC didn't die as a gaming platform, but it's barely hanging on life support these days and the only thing keeping it going is the MMORPG market. Sad.
I worry about this too.
Blizzard keeps pushing back the release dates for Diablo III and Starcraft II. Those titles would really revitalize PC gaming. Blizzard has the resources to bang them out...but they're stalling for some reason.
Maybe some of it is the economy...maybe they're waiting for the market to open up. They're also addressing the piracy problem by forcing players to use Battle.net to play those games...something which involves more infrastructure work on their end...and bandwidth is as expensive as ever.
Then there's another issue.
When you look at the demographics, the majority of potential Diablo III and Starcraft II gamers are already playing WoW. Nobody is going to pay for 2 subscription games at once...Blizzard knows this, so that isn't an option for them. I know plenty of people who would cancel their WoW accounts for 3-6 months to play D3 alone. Blizzard may be worried about shooting themselves in the foot. It hardly serves them to release new games when it causes their customers to cancel their WoW subs. We've seen how stifling WoW's success has been to the MMORPG market, ironically WoW may be stifling Blizzard too.
It seems they have a lot of non-technical problems with very few obvious solutions. It's a bummer.
But the point I wanted to make is that the next sequel should have someone stumble on the Alien's home planet - where they originally are from. Think about it - they are communal, live in a colony and can build a new one with a single individual, like some of our insects. They cooperate, can withstand very hostile environments. They have eggs that can do the same and lie dormant for long periods of time. They have lightning speed, hide really well, and have acid for blood.
Mmm, you're making an assumption there. What if the alien was bioengineered by a more advanced race as a weapon?
Something like:
A) we want to colonize this planet, but it's full of X and we're too lazy to kill them ourselves. B) no problem, release the hounds... (aliens) C) wait a few years D) release some kind of 'agent' into the atmosphere that kills them all E) colonize
You seem to forget that Alien predated Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and most of the other "classic horror" movies:
Alien (1979) Friday the 13th (1980) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Only Halloween (1978) predates Alien, and by a short enough period that I think it's safe to say that Alien was well underway before Halloween hit the theater.
"Out of the fifties 'B' Science-Fiction monster movies, this easily ranks as the best. It's most notable as the film that ALIEN is an unaccredited remake of, thus giving it a certain historical significance."
Also, if you're into this kind of stuff, Them! (1954) was probably an inspirational precursor to Aliens, just watch it and you'll see the parallels, some are glaring.
Alien and Aliens were both done very well. There's nothing wrong with derivative work, as long as it's done well. I'd bet anything that the writers saw the above linked films as children.
"Out of the fifties 'B' Science-Fiction monster movies, this easily ranks as the best. It's most notable as the film that ALIEN is an unaccredited remake of, thus giving it a certain historical significance."
I so hope he can pull this off, unfortunately horror/action directors don't seem to age as well as suspense/noir/drama directors do.
OFCS saved me from the latest Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Transformer and Terminator fiascoes, this may be another one I'll have to miss...but I hope not. Ridley Scott may be old, but he has an eye for quality, and he has clout. Here's hoping he can nail this, and give us a proper Alien trilogy (prequel, original, and Aliens of course).
*NOTE TO FOX - please put the money down and hire a talented writer and editor!*
(my other hand has fingers crossed for James Cameron and Avatar)
1) I have schizophrenia (paranoid delusional, no visual or auditory hallucinations). 2) I am not creative, at all...in any artistic sense. Except maybe with words, poetry, scrabble. 3) I have an extremely vivid and active imagination. 4) My nervous system is very sensitive, I have to take meds to 'turn them down' so I'm relaxed. 5) I have an IQ of 133 and an interest in math and science; degrees in physics and computer science.
My only concern is battery replacement. Replacing a UPS battery is roughly half the cost of the UPS. If cars like these get the same battery economy that would mean $25k every 5-7 years according to their FAQ. (I'm just guessing here based on battery life; they made no mention of battery replacement costs)
Their FAQ claims the car is a great lasting investment due to lack of complexity and moving parts, but having to drop $25k every 6 years for a new battery would be a deal breaker.
I do wish them luck though, it's way past time we stopped supporting extremists in the middle east. Not to mention that fact that a complete 300 mile recharge would cost about $4.
"Retro Futuristic" sci-fi can work, such as things along the lines of Flash Gordon, or possibly post-apocalyptic sci-fi can work, think slightly more futuristic Mad Max. I could see an MMORPG based on Mad Max working out great, and if you move up event that causes society to collapse a couple of hundred years you've got yourself one heck of a game.
Also, Please spread this link to other forums you frequent and explain why it's so important that we speak up together _now_.
We all know the abuses of the RIAA/MPAA over the past 8 years. Bullying private citizens, stifling innovation, refusing to embrace emergent technologies, and most importantly their slow but successful erosion of the public domain through congress.
These are monopolists who have consistently attacked the public domain, and if they win here they will be very difficult to stop.
Please spread the word to your friends and family, explain to them why this issue is so important...and what's at stake. Encourage anyone you can to comment on this, raise the issue in forums, college newspapers, and wherever else you think public discourse on the subject would be most beneficial. Do your part.
Obama will listen if enough of us speak up. Joe Biden is sided with the RIAA, we need to outvoice him and the Hollywood lobbyists. This is the part where you work for the country you want to live in, not sit back and expect the government to 'do the right thing'.
Flywheel power storage systems in current production (2001) have storage capacities comparable to batteries and faster discharge rates. They are mainly used to provide load leveling for large battery systems, such as an uninterruptible power supply for data centers.[9]
Flywheel maintenance in general runs about one-half the cost of traditional battery UPS systems. The only maintenance is a basic annual preventive maintenance routine and replacing the bearings every three years, which takes about four hours.[5]"
"Sarcasm may be the lowest form of wit, but Australian scientists are using it to diagnose dementia, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of New South Wales, found that patients under the age of 65 suffering from frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the second most common form of dementia, cannot detect when someone is being sarcastic."
I have suffered from Paranoid Schizophrenia since the age of 15. I'm 33 now, and I can say from my own personal experience that this is very true.
One of the many reasons I have trouble 'fitting in', especially at social gatherings, is my inability to detect sarcasm. It can be terrifying when someone says something that could be interpreted 'literally' as demeaning or cruel but is only 'joking around' etc.
I'm better now than I was, but usually only after getting to know a person well. Surprisingly however, even people I've known for 5+ years can still be sarcastic occasionally and it will go right over my head. They know about my illness however, and on occasions like those do me the favor of pointing out they were just being sarcastic, which helps.
I think the approach in the article could be a great diagnostic tool for early detection of these types of mental illness...I suffered from schizophrenia without knowing I had it for almost 10 years. My life fell to pieces; that and my family and friends (the few I had left) finally convinced me I had a problem. I was the last to know I had schizophrenia...and it has been very very difficult coming to terms with it.
Maybe if it was detected earlier I could have been treated earlier, and the damage to my life and my state of mind might have been mitigated considerably. I don't know.
This same thing happened with Auto Assault. It was a unique and genuinely fun MMO. It was akin to Steve Jacksons Car Wars, something I'd been waiting for for years.
I bought this game, subscribed, and played it for about 4 months. Unfortunately the game had no longevity, was fundamentally flawed design-wise, and went 'belly up' in about 6 months. I've still got the box and the CD and the manual. It's really a shame this game didn't get fixed and stay afloat because I love the idea of an MMO like this.
Unfortunately it took the cold war, and Dwight Eisenhower (war hero from WW2) as president to convince congress that an interstate system was a national defense issue (to allow ease of troop transportation in the event of an invasion).
It's obvious that we've reaped the benefits from that military expense, but would congress have spent the money if it was considered a civil project?
"I have always been thin but all the sitting in front of the PC is taking its toll now that I'm getting older. I have begun to get a little heavier around the waist. I don't eat a lot but the weight seems to stay on these days. Most of the time I don't have the luxury of just getting out of the house/office. And being an introvert, I'm not enamored of the idea of exercising in full view of *shudder* people. I regularly do press-ups (60 per night) and sit-ups (30 per night) and some fetching and carrying, but that is all and these days it isn't enough. I need a solid and effective routine that will tone all my muscle groups efficiently. Do any Slashdotters have a regular workout routine that can be performed in the privacy of the home to stave off those pounds?"
If you insist on not joining a gym, or can't afford to build your own home gym (most people can't), there is still a way to do what you want.
You may find that you'll start to really enjoy working out...in which case I'd highly recommend joining a gym. I've been doing a MWF split at my gym the past 18 months and it's really been fun. Learning what works, what doesn't, seeing progress etc.
Also, I'm as introverted as they come...I have paranoid schizophrenia. Going to the gym has been great for me because I can be in public (i.e. around people) but not be obligated to interact with them at all. I just put on my headphones and lift, no problem. It's fun, and it's healthy for me both mentally and physically to get out and exercise.
Slashdot Mirror
From another thead on this topic:
Not quite that simple.
I want the Original Theatrical Release of Episodes IV, V, and VI in stores, along with a promise from Lucas and his estate that these films will always remain untouched and available alongside any 're-mastered' versions.
I haven't seen it, but I'm glad someone devoted the time to do this.
The prequels, and especially the replacement of the original trilogy with the "re-mastered" Lucas-edited crap are great examples of how destructive exclusive IP can be to creative works.
"The ultimate single-minded, self-centered creature is a cancer cell."
That is what George Lucas became to his own films. After a great piece of artwork has become culturally accepted, it should be cast in stone, and be preserved as it is.
Non of the above.
These people are beta-testing the atypical antipsychotics.
Poor people can't litigate. It makes the drug companies look good by 'helping the poor', and gives them lots of people to test their new drugs on. /I've taken these medications //as a class, after 6 months only 30% of people prescribed atypical antipsychotics can remain on them, because the side-effects are so unbearable.
I agree with most of your points.
I just find it strange that a company with such a huge revenue stream needs 12 years to crank out a sequel to their most successful single player fantasy title.
I mean, that's like 20 years in old-media time (books, films, etc). Most film sequels...even the really great ones with attention to detail and care for quality like you mention (Aliens for instance)...take 2-6 years tops. The original star wars trilogy was spaced by about 3 years per sequel. 1 year for the LoTR series. I can see building a new game engine taking time, 2-3 years, but 12?
Diablo I 1996
Diablo II 2000
Diablo III 2012?
It doesn't add up. Maybe you're right about WoW. Perhaps it grew so fast and unexpectedly they couldn't afford to assign talent to other projects until now.
I worry about this too.
Blizzard keeps pushing back the release dates for Diablo III and Starcraft II. Those titles would really revitalize PC gaming. Blizzard has the resources to bang them out...but they're stalling for some reason.
Maybe some of it is the economy...maybe they're waiting for the market to open up. They're also addressing the piracy problem by forcing players to use Battle.net to play those games...something which involves more infrastructure work on their end...and bandwidth is as expensive as ever.
Then there's another issue.
When you look at the demographics, the majority of potential Diablo III and Starcraft II gamers are already playing WoW. Nobody is going to pay for 2 subscription games at once...Blizzard knows this, so that isn't an option for them. I know plenty of people who would cancel their WoW accounts for 3-6 months to play D3 alone. Blizzard may be worried about shooting themselves in the foot. It hardly serves them to release new games when it causes their customers to cancel their WoW subs. We've seen how stifling WoW's success has been to the MMORPG market, ironically WoW may be stifling Blizzard too.
It seems they have a lot of non-technical problems with very few obvious solutions. It's a bummer.
I'm browsing with SeaMonkey 1.1.17 right now, I prefer they way it handles tabs over firefox.
Hope they didn't change that!
I would trade this in a second for a guarantee that the last mile problem will be resolved in my lifetime.
It's been 10 years and I'm still stuck with a crappy 1.5m/256k (1.2/180 actual) ADSL line.
This is bad news...for Diablo fans =(
Mmm, you're making an assumption there. What if the alien was bioengineered by a more advanced race as a weapon?
Something like:
A) we want to colonize this planet, but it's full of X and we're too lazy to kill them ourselves.
B) no problem, release the hounds... (aliens)
C) wait a few years
D) release some kind of 'agent' into the atmosphere that kills them all
E) colonize
who knows...many possibilities.
same thing happened to me, almost verbatin, including sleeping with the sheets wrapped around my head.
Movie scarred me bad, I was 7 when I saw it....waaaay to young.
It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)
"Out of the fifties 'B' Science-Fiction monster movies, this easily ranks as the best. It's most notable as the film that ALIEN is an unaccredited remake of, thus giving it a certain historical significance."
Also, if you're into this kind of stuff, Them! (1954) was probably an inspirational precursor to Aliens, just watch it and you'll see the parallels, some are glaring.
Alien and Aliens were both done very well. There's nothing wrong with derivative work, as long as it's done well. I'd bet anything that the writers saw the above linked films as children.
"It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)"
"Out of the fifties 'B' Science-Fiction monster movies, this easily ranks as the best. It's most notable as the film that ALIEN is an unaccredited remake of, thus giving it a certain historical significance."
I so hope he can pull this off, unfortunately horror/action directors don't seem to age as well as suspense/noir/drama directors do.
OFCS saved me from the latest Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Transformer and Terminator fiascoes, this may be another one I'll have to miss...but I hope not. Ridley Scott may be old, but he has an eye for quality, and he has clout. Here's hoping he can nail this, and give us a proper Alien trilogy (prequel, original, and Aliens of course).
*NOTE TO FOX - please put the money down and hire a talented writer and editor!*
(my other hand has fingers crossed for James Cameron and Avatar)
Well,
1) I have schizophrenia (paranoid delusional, no visual or auditory hallucinations).
2) I am not creative, at all...in any artistic sense. Except maybe with words, poetry, scrabble.
3) I have an extremely vivid and active imagination.
4) My nervous system is very sensitive, I have to take meds to 'turn them down' so I'm relaxed.
5) I have an IQ of 133 and an interest in math and science; degrees in physics and computer science.
That thing looks hot.
My only concern is battery replacement. Replacing a UPS battery is roughly half the cost of the UPS. If cars like these get the same battery economy that would mean $25k every 5-7 years according to their FAQ. (I'm just guessing here based on battery life; they made no mention of battery replacement costs)
Their FAQ claims the car is a great lasting investment due to lack of complexity and moving parts, but having to drop $25k every 6 years for a new battery would be a deal breaker.
I do wish them luck though, it's way past time we stopped supporting extremists in the middle east. Not to mention that fact that a complete 300 mile recharge would cost about $4.
So what happens? A different type of Sci-Fi.
"Retro Futuristic" sci-fi can work, such as things along the lines of Flash Gordon, or possibly post-apocalyptic sci-fi can work, think slightly more futuristic Mad Max. I could see an MMORPG based on Mad Max working out great, and if you move up event that causes society to collapse a couple of hundred years you've got yourself one heck of a game.
They tried it, but sadly it didn't work:
Auto Assault
This is important everyone, please voice yourselves at the OP's link here http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/.
Also, Please spread this link to other forums you frequent and explain why it's so important that we speak up together _now_.
We all know the abuses of the RIAA/MPAA over the past 8 years. Bullying private citizens, stifling innovation, refusing to embrace emergent technologies, and most importantly their slow but successful erosion of the public domain through congress.
These are monopolists who have consistently attacked the public domain, and if they win here they will be very difficult to stop.
Please spread the word to your friends and family, explain to them why this issue is so important...and what's at stake. Encourage anyone you can to comment on this, raise the issue in forums, college newspapers, and wherever else you think public discourse on the subject would be most beneficial. Do your part.
Obama will listen if enough of us speak up. Joe Biden is sided with the RIAA, we need to outvoice him and the Hollywood lobbyists. This is the part where you work for the country you want to live in, not sit back and expect the government to 'do the right thing'.
Flywheel energy storage
"Applications
Uninterruptible power supply
Flywheel power storage systems in current production (2001) have storage capacities comparable to batteries and faster discharge rates. They are mainly used to provide load leveling for large battery systems, such as an uninterruptible power supply for data centers.[9]
Flywheel maintenance in general runs about one-half the cost of traditional battery UPS systems. The only maintenance is a basic annual preventive maintenance routine and replacing the bearings every three years, which takes about four hours.[5]"
"Sarcasm may be the lowest form of wit, but Australian scientists are using it to diagnose dementia, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of New South Wales, found that patients under the age of 65 suffering from frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the second most common form of dementia, cannot detect when someone is being sarcastic."
I have suffered from Paranoid Schizophrenia since the age of 15. I'm 33 now, and I can say from my own personal experience that this is very true.
One of the many reasons I have trouble 'fitting in', especially at social gatherings, is my inability to detect sarcasm. It can be terrifying when someone says something that could be interpreted 'literally' as demeaning or cruel but is only 'joking around' etc.
I'm better now than I was, but usually only after getting to know a person well. Surprisingly however, even people I've known for 5+ years can still be sarcastic occasionally and it will go right over my head. They know about my illness however, and on occasions like those do me the favor of pointing out they were just being sarcastic, which helps.
I think the approach in the article could be a great diagnostic tool for early detection of these types of mental illness...I suffered from schizophrenia without knowing I had it for almost 10 years. My life fell to pieces; that and my family and friends (the few I had left) finally convinced me I had a problem. I was the last to know I had schizophrenia...and it has been very very difficult coming to terms with it.
Maybe if it was detected earlier I could have been treated earlier, and the damage to my life and my state of mind might have been mitigated considerably. I don't know.
This same thing happened with Auto Assault. It was a unique and genuinely fun MMO. It was akin to Steve Jacksons Car Wars, something I'd been waiting for for years.
I bought this game, subscribed, and played it for about 4 months. Unfortunately the game had no longevity, was fundamentally flawed design-wise, and went 'belly up' in about 6 months. I've still got the box and the CD and the manual. It's really a shame this game didn't get fixed and stay afloat because I love the idea of an MMO like this.
Unfortunately it took the cold war, and Dwight Eisenhower (war hero from WW2) as president to convince congress that an interstate system was a national defense issue (to allow ease of troop transportation in the event of an invasion).
It's obvious that we've reaped the benefits from that military expense, but would congress have spent the money if it was considered a civil project?
No reason for surprise, those are all really good games.
AO is another great one that keeps on going.
At first glance I prefer Blizzard's version.
If you insist on not joining a gym, or can't afford to build your own home gym (most people can't), there is still a way to do what you want.
Google: "Death by bodyweight"
This is a great starting place: Death by bodyweight
You may find that you'll start to really enjoy working out...in which case I'd highly recommend joining a gym. I've been doing a MWF split at my gym the past 18 months and it's really been fun. Learning what works, what doesn't, seeing progress etc.
Also, I'm as introverted as they come...I have paranoid schizophrenia. Going to the gym has been great for me because I can be in public (i.e. around people) but not be obligated to interact with them at all. I just put on my headphones and lift, no problem. It's fun, and it's healthy for me both mentally and physically to get out and exercise.
Btw, here's a great resource for beginner bodybuilders: Bodybuilding.com forums
Good Luck.