Natalie Portman is Evey is unexpected but perfect casting.
She actually played a similar role in her first movie, the brilliant Leon (aka The Professional). Both Evey in V and Mathilda in Leon are young girls forced to grow up before their time by the harsh world they live in, and who form an intimate relationship with a cold blooded but sympathetic killer.
How in the nine hells are they supposed to know what "Firefox" is (most of them do not read the times). Firefox is not an intuitive name. It gives the average person absolutely no idea what it does by just looking at what the name is.
Amazon yahoo msn google etc...
None of these mean anything but they are all sucessful none the less. It's just a marketing issue.
Yes it is just a marketing issue.
Google's excellent word of mouth notwithstanding, what are the marketing budgets of Amazon, Yahoo, Microsoft and Google Incs?
What is the marketing budget of the Mozilla Foundation?
If they're the kind of people giving money to an open source browser project, I doubt they're going to raise much of a fuss if their name doesn't get specifically mentioned.
Excluding people's names probably won't generate a lot of ill will.
But tracking people down to confirm their inclusion probably will generate a lot of good will.
Not the first and won't be the last to say this...
on
ROTK:EE Trailer Released
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· Score: 4, Funny
LOTR: ROTK Extended Edition: Now with even more endings!
MS gets to identify and crack down on hardware vendors abusing their licensing programme and is more likely to generate future revenue stream via product upgrade fees.
I have been hanging out for a Watchmen movie for almost twenty years. Here's hoping this incarnation finally gets the project out of development hell.
That said, I don't think the story can work without the ending. Except in this post-9/11 world I'm not sure if any studio would be willing to take the chance of portraying...
**** SPOILER ****
.... half of New York wiped out in an act of terrorism designed to change the world.
**** SPOILER END ***
The Sam Hamm ending (pre-9/11 I believe?) didn't work for me either. Only the full-on climax would do justice to the comic IMO.
I can live with a fair amount of cutting, eg the comic-within-a-comic thread (though I've always thought they could translate that to a film-within-a-film) and many of the character backstories. While these make up so much of the thematic meat of the comic I can understand that it's impossible to incorporate all of these elements in a two hour movie.
Many of the best movie adaptations concentrate on the main plot and suggest the character and other complexities anyway, and do so well.
Next time you wonder why America *needs* such a large military, it's because we're the only people out there either without baggage, or refusing to let our baggage color our interpretation of the world.
It's as if the US wants to be able to fight everyone in the world at once. And given the Bush administration's policies that's how it might just pan out!;-)
I may revise my opinion after finding out more facts, but it strikes me that it doesn't make sense to regulate too restrictively an industry that's in its pioneering phase.*
Concern for passenger and crew safety is commendable of course but let's face it, we're dealing with an inherently risky venture here and everyone involved in a space flight would know this regardless of whatever safety standard is mandated.
It's in the industry's own self-interest to implement the highest possible safety standards itself. At the same time I think there needs to be a recognition that you can't eliminate the chance of a tragedy just by legislation.
Letting a bill that would act to spur private space enterprise die merely because of this reason is disappointing.
Once we get to the stage where the space industry has reached critical mass then the need for regulation becomes more justifiable. But we're a long way from this. Right now, the plant needs watering not pruning.
(* I would subscribe to this principle for any new industry though the risk/safety equation needs to be adjusted for technologies that have the potential for significant environmental impact, eg biotechnology.)
The next quote from the book of Mozilla
on
Netscape Reborn?
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· Score: 5, Funny
And lo, the child did become father to the man, and the student the master.
Yeah, and moderate Colin Powell really influenced this administration's foriegn policy didn't he?
He had some. but nowhere as much as a SoS should have had. Foreign policy under the Bush administration has substantially been driven out of the Pentagon.
Powell was nothing more than window dressing. He was marginalized from the very beginning. So much so that the week before 9/11 Time magazine's cover story was "Where have gone Colin Powell?". Any moderate (read non-neo-con ideologue), will be marginalized as well.
Yeah, I remember that. But, even marginalised, a moderate will have more influence in shaping the policy debate if s/he's in the seat than if the seat was taken by a neo-con. Moot point now I guess, unless (as I hope) Rice will reveal herself to be more moderate than she might be perceived.
Powell has tarnished his own reputation, by not resigning years ago.
I'm interested in what he'll do now. If he writes a book called I Argued Against It And Was Only Following Orders I think that might signal interest in a 2008 presidential run... or perhaps just clearing his name and easing his conscience. I agree that he's tarnished his reputation - the UN presentation was particularly damning, especially (but not solely) in hindsight.
In any other administration, Condi Rice would seem less moderate than she does in this administration.
True.
Rice in State isn't the choice I'd make, but compared to Wolfowitz (now THAT would be a statement), she's acceptable. The scary thing is that Wolfowitz is being bandied about for NSA.
And given the news that has just broken that's a lot more likely now. Scary indeed.
Rice, despite her reported dislike of public engagements, seems to be capable of exercising a great deal of charm. Having her be the face of the administration to the world, while being much more aligned with the neoconservative agenda than Powell ever was (ie toeing the party line with little or no question), while at the same time elevating Iraq architect Wolfowitz to NSA would be a frightening scenario. One, basically, that says: "We'll keep on doing what we're doing and more, but will beguile you with a smile and nice pair of legs."
...No insult intended to Rice's legs... I admire her intellect a whole lot more than her body.;)
Powell's replacement will - I think - send a strong signal about the strategy a Bush 43B administration will pursue.
A moderate (like one of the current favourites for the job, John Danforth, the current US ambassador to the UN... though I don't know enough about him to know if the description is accurate) will imply that there will continue to be a level of debate between the neoconservative and less revolutionary wings of the administration.
On the other hand, appointing someone like Paul Wolfowitz to the job (another name bandied about, along with that of Condoleezza Rice*), will signal a continuation and even escalation of a unilateralist, force-based foreign policy that was pretty much dictated by the Pentagon for the last four years anyway.
(*Not sure how I feel about Rice. I suspect she's not quite as extremist as she's often painted as being. She is - I think - on record as saying she's not interested in remaining in her NSA position and that she's considering a return to academia. She's also a favourite to replace Powell but appears to prefer to take over Defence rather than State. She's a doer, not a talker, and doesn't like all the pomp and ceremony associated with the foreign affairs position.)
But that doesn't make MS's anticompetitive behavior any less illegal: "Well, I murdered him, but he had terminal cancer, so it's not as bad."
Maybe not for criminal prosecution. But if the victim only had six months to live, in a civil suit it would probably affect damages based on future earnings.
The signal-to-noise ratio at the site can at times be somewhat distressing, I agree. But the signal can also be very, very good. It's not for everyone, but those who like it tend to do so with a fierce passion.
it's a shame you can't just go and create your own website that meets your demanding personal requirements...
Some of us (or some of our friends to be exact) did.:)
And, yes, that's a shameless plug. But seriously, if you're interested in discussing the election, politics and other sensitive issues in a... err.. free-wheeling manner - give Wordforge a try.
Slashdot Mirror
Natalie Portman is Evey is unexpected but perfect casting.
She actually played a similar role in her first movie, the brilliant Leon (aka The Professional). Both Evey in V and Mathilda in Leon are young girls forced to grow up before their time by the harsh world they live in, and who form an intimate relationship with a cold blooded but sympathetic killer.
Yes it is just a marketing issue.
Google's excellent word of mouth notwithstanding, what are the marketing budgets of Amazon, Yahoo, Microsoft and Google Incs?
What is the marketing budget of the Mozilla Foundation?
MPA stands for Master of Public Administration as O'Keef's biography confirms.
Excluding people's names probably won't generate a lot of ill will.
But tracking people down to confirm their inclusion probably will generate a lot of good will.
LOTR: ROTK Extended Edition: Now with even more endings!
MS gets to identify and crack down on hardware vendors abusing their licensing programme and is more likely to generate future revenue stream via product upgrade fees.
That said, I don't think the story can work without the ending. Except in this post-9/11 world I'm not sure if any studio would be willing to take the chance of portraying...
**** SPOILER ****
**** SPOILER END ***
The Sam Hamm ending (pre-9/11 I believe?) didn't work for me either. Only the full-on climax would do justice to the comic IMO.
I can live with a fair amount of cutting, eg the comic-within-a-comic thread (though I've always thought they could translate that to a film-within-a-film) and many of the character backstories. While these make up so much of the thematic meat of the comic I can understand that it's impossible to incorporate all of these elements in a two hour movie.
Many of the best movie adaptations concentrate on the main plot and suggest the character and other complexities anyway, and do so well.
Are the PocketPC devices also running as cellphones? If not, the comparison is hardly apt.
Actually personnel costs for the US armed forces account for only about 25% of the total budget.
In contrast, China - the second largest spender, seems to spend about 35% of its budget on personnel.
In 2002, the cost per US serviceman was US$248,000 whereas the cost per German serviceman (presumably not paid $50 per month) was US$84,121
In other words, high pay scales cannot account for the huge discrepancy in military spend.
Thanks for the best laugh I've had all day!
In fact, it's almost as much as all other nations combined.
It's as if the US wants to be able to fight everyone in the world at once. And given the Bush administration's policies that's how it might just pan out!
I may revise my opinion after finding out more facts, but it strikes me that it doesn't make sense to regulate too restrictively an industry that's in its pioneering phase.*
Concern for passenger and crew safety is commendable of course but let's face it, we're dealing with an inherently risky venture here and everyone involved in a space flight would know this regardless of whatever safety standard is mandated.
It's in the industry's own self-interest to implement the highest possible safety standards itself. At the same time I think there needs to be a recognition that you can't eliminate the chance of a tragedy just by legislation.
Letting a bill that would act to spur private space enterprise die merely because of this reason is disappointing.
Once we get to the stage where the space industry has reached critical mass then the need for regulation becomes more justifiable. But we're a long way from this. Right now, the plant needs watering not pruning.
(* I would subscribe to this principle for any new industry though the risk/safety equation needs to be adjusted for technologies that have the potential for significant environmental impact, eg biotechnology.)
And lo, the child did become father to the man, and the student the master.
He had some. but nowhere as much as a SoS should have had. Foreign policy under the Bush administration has substantially been driven out of the Pentagon.
Yeah, I remember that. But, even marginalised, a moderate will have more influence in shaping the policy debate if s/he's in the seat than if the seat was taken by a neo-con. Moot point now I guess, unless (as I hope) Rice will reveal herself to be more moderate than she might be perceived.
I'm interested in what he'll do now. If he writes a book called I Argued Against It And Was Only Following Orders I think that might signal interest in a 2008 presidential run... or perhaps just clearing his name and easing his conscience. I agree that he's tarnished his reputation - the UN presentation was particularly damning, especially (but not solely) in hindsight.
True.
And given the news that has just broken that's a lot more likely now. Scary indeed.
Rice, despite her reported dislike of public engagements, seems to be capable of exercising a great deal of charm. Having her be the face of the administration to the world, while being much more aligned with the neoconservative agenda than Powell ever was (ie toeing the party line with little or no question), while at the same time elevating Iraq architect Wolfowitz to NSA would be a frightening scenario. One, basically, that says: "We'll keep on doing what we're doing and more, but will beguile you with a smile and nice pair of legs."
Powell's replacement will - I think - send a strong signal about the strategy a Bush 43B administration will pursue.
A moderate (like one of the current favourites for the job, John Danforth, the current US ambassador to the UN... though I don't know enough about him to know if the description is accurate) will imply that there will continue to be a level of debate between the neoconservative and less revolutionary wings of the administration.
On the other hand, appointing someone like Paul Wolfowitz to the job (another name bandied about, along with that of Condoleezza Rice*), will signal a continuation and even escalation of a unilateralist, force-based foreign policy that was pretty much dictated by the Pentagon for the last four years anyway.
(*Not sure how I feel about Rice. I suspect she's not quite as extremist as she's often painted as being. She is - I think - on record as saying she's not interested in remaining in her NSA position and that she's considering a return to academia. She's also a favourite to replace Powell but appears to prefer to take over Defence rather than State. She's a doer, not a talker, and doesn't like all the pomp and ceremony associated with the foreign affairs position.)
Not for long.
Maybe not for criminal prosecution. But if the victim only had six months to live, in a civil suit it would probably affect damages based on future earnings.
Groklaw coverage here
Given that when the USA sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold ... set up a mechanism whereby people in other countries get some kind of vote.
I'm semi-serious here...
Some MBAs do read slashdot you know...
(Though in my case I'd almost certainly be in the wrong country.)
The signal-to-noise ratio at the site can at times be somewhat distressing, I agree. But the signal can also be very, very good. It's not for everyone, but those who like it tend to do so with a fierce passion.
Some of us (or some of our friends to be exact) did.
And, yes, that's a shameless plug. But seriously, if you're interested in discussing the election, politics and other sensitive issues in a... err.. free-wheeling manner - give Wordforge a try.
4. Profit!