A fictional work by Joshua Griffin would be dated April 2005
Finally there's a prequel to be proud of. Not that the others have been all that bad - they just haven't been able to cast the same spell over fans that the originals had back in the 70s. We argued that Episode 1 was misunderstood, that Episode 2 was a step in the right direction and prayed for Episode 3 to deliver.
And man does it deliver.
I'm just returning from something Lucasfilm has never done before and quite frankly something I never thought they would do. Although there is still a month before the release of the film worldwide, they showed a select group of people the movie. It wasn't finished, mind you - as always Lucas tinkers until the end. There was one minor scene still incomplete with bluescreen he filmed just the week before our showing. But even in it's nearly finished form you can see the soul of Star Wars in this one.
There are plenty of special effects in this movie - I think at last count they were approaching 2,200. But the driving force of the story captivates like the classics. For the first time we see Anakin's fall from glory to become the evil Darth Vader. You can hardly believe what he'll do even to those he loves after his Dark Side embrace. Any momentum from the prequels and anticipation from the classics lives out on screen here aggressively.
Returning cast for the final theatrical Star Wars movie include Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker), Natalie Portman (Padme Skywalker), Ian McDiarmid (Palpatine), Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu), Robert Coleman/Frank Oz (Yoda), Jimmy Smits (Bail Organa), and Christopher Lee (Count Dooku). Joining the prequel veterans in the last installment are notables Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), ILM (General Grievous) Wayne Pygram (Tarkin).
The movie starts with a bang - we're in the middle of a giant space battle - the climax of the Clone Wars. When I was a kid I imagined how this would play out, and this exceeds even those expectations. There's the epic capital ship battles moving in side by side like pirate vessels maneuvering for strategic position on each other, while intimate skirmishes that will define the outcome of the war take place nearby. As these huge ships rip apart you see clones being sucked out into space to their doom.
Palpatine is shackled to a solitary chair inside one of these weapons of war, a fully ironic and iconic image since it is he that has orchestrated these very events frozen in the starfield behind him. You can tell from these early moments several key elements are at last coming together. Lucas' Episode I introduction of characters and Episode 2 development of the plot are mere footnotes to the script and acting of this final film. We are on a whole new level of Star Wars here.
I remember the first time I watched Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker in Episode II. I felt he was a bit stiff and wooden like the others, but after watching Episode III I think I understand it better. He is cocky - full of pride as Yoda predicted - and it would eventually be his downfall. You can see it as he slices through separatist forces or flies his Starfighter and it peaks as he's saving a huge cruiser from destruction over Corusant. Even as they hang on for dear life as the ship careens in circles you can see him slipping deeper and deeper into pure evil.
Portman returns to the film a bit later than expected, and this time also delivers her best performance of the prequels. Yoda is amazing yet again - you'll see him do more than you ever imagined again this time, and Ewan McGregor still shines as the venerable and protective Obi-Wan. There's a new and temporary villain named General Grievous, another disposable bad guy in the prequel tradition of Maul and Dooku. But he's a fantastic character with lots of lightsabers and exciting moments. Another part of his defense is that he is central to the plot of the film - think of him as
The Force.Net's Review of Episode III is interesting. TFN Editor Joshua Griffin wrote a review from the point of view of a month from now. Apparently Lucasfilm let a select (him included..wonder if they knew he wrote for TFN) few screen Episode III and give their feedback.
"I'm just returning from something Lucasfilm has never done before and quite frankly something I never thought they would do. Although there is still a month before the release of the film worldwide, they showed a select group of people the movie. [snip] But even in it's nearly finished form you can see the soul of Star Wars in this one."
"You won't want to miss today's new editorial where TFN Editor Joshua Griffin posts a "review from the future" - an article that takes a hypothetical look at a finished film that is actually no where near complete. There are many points of discussion written within the editorial itself which will be expounded on in regular articles, the point is not to show a predetermined bias to loving the unseen final film but to simply believe that Star Wars can be great again.
I'd pay good money for such a keyboard. Maybe since Logitech's headquarters is next door to where I work maybe I should walk over there and suggest it to them.
Please do! Catch one of the engineers on his way out to lunch or something. Maybe make a sketch of where you think the best place for the keys would be. Maybe you can weasel your way into getting a tour of their concepts lab:).
While you're at it tell them I think the MX700 is the best mouse ever!
What's the total number of unique users? Since you didn't use a redirect for the Mozilla download link there isn't a way to tell how many users have downloaded mozilla...is there?
I considered building a MythTV box a couple of months ago, but when I started adding up what it'd cost I found I could get a DirecTivo for a lot less ($100 w contract). Though I would like some of the MythTv features such as the photo slideshows.
I haven't gotten the DirecTivo box yet. We have COX Digital Cable around here and they just started offering the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000 which you rent for $15 a month). This box is absolutely HORRIBLE! It's features are beta...no, alpha quality.
For example, if you are watching a Live show that is being recorded, and you are watching say 15 minutes behind real time, when the show ends in real time the box will STOP playing from the delayed point you were watching and jump to the next show that is just beginning. Then if you wish to continue watching the show from the point you were at you must access the recorded show list, scroll through ALL of your recorded shows (no search of any kind), find the show that was just on, then you gotta FAST FORWARD to where you were. Oh yeah, you might as well go get a snack as there's only 3 fast forward speeds, slow (too fast for fine tuning), medium and fast (32x iirc, sounds fast but it's not fast enough when you want to get 3/4 of the way through a hour program in a hurry).
I'm ditching Cox for the DirecTivo very soon. Or I might reconsider MythTV again. Only thing is I REALLY like that you can record two shows at once with the DirecTivo, and to do that with MythTv I'd have to have two DirecTv boxes (or two cable boxes)
Anyway why am I posting this......Oh yeah. I was going to ask which capture card you are using. Guess I got a carried away.:p
-TMF
Re:Linux Answering Machine
on
Linux Toys
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Asterisk is an AWSOME PBX system that doesn't get mentioned enough on/.
It's supported features are equivalent to a PBX costing several thousand bucks. Including support for VOIP and T-1(E-1)'s
Some of the other features include Voicemail, Conference calling, Caller ID, an Auto Attendant (press 1 for sales, 2 for support,), Call Queuing (for call centers), Call Detail Records, more
The documentation is a little sparse but they are currently working on the Asterisk Handbook Project (warning PDF).
Just found a thread in the "free trial area" discussing the article and also Kirk's (the forum owners) email encouraging people to "flood" the guy who wrote the article's email. linkey (click). You can be certain that this will be moved to the paid area with in a few weeks.
It is a "professional" forum. They have the "free trial area" and the "Paid section" which is some 80 dollars a year. The idea is they want to have a place to discuss pricing, photography techniques, etc with out the customer being able to see the discussions. I can understand that, however recently they have gotten very strict with what can be posted in the "free trial area"*.
The "free trial area" used to be the "free forum" and anybody was free to post anything they liked (photography related), use the search function, view member's profiles, send Private Messages, post attachments (pictures for critique) etc. However recently somebody had the wise idea to make it just a "trial area" instead. Now all the aforementioned features have been disabled for all but subscribers.
Furthermore they regularly move posts from the "free trial area" to the "Paid section" which they deem to have "confidential" information in them which they don't want the "public" to have access to. Sometimes they will move the post of a non-paid member to the paid section and the poster can no longer access that post. For example you are not allowed to post ANY pricing info in the free section, regardless of whether or not you care if your clientele can access the info.
I was considering joining as it seemed like a nice group of fairly talented photographers and I would have liked to have the benefit of their input, however when they started locking up the free area that just really turned me off to the whole thing. I just go to some other forums such as Rob Galbraith's forums now.
I'd be interested to hear more of what they have to say also. My previous post was a quote of an email I received as I am a member of the "free trial area". Maybe somebody will post a link to this discussion over there.
This has come up again and I thought that I should post this for everyone to read.
It is common policy for the pro4um that we DO NOT post prices in the FREE Section due to the fact that anyone can access the free section (i.e.: our clientele).
Please Note that any and all threads that contain photographers costs will be moved to the PDA section regardless of who started the thread (PDA member or Non-PDA Member).
There was some recent NEGATIVE PRESS about us as Professional Photographers being over paid.
IF you would like to FLOOD this guys email box expressing your feelings, please go here:
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/mai...3BF2A%7D Here is an a small amount of what he said about us professional photographers: -------------- What follows is a list of the 10 most overpaid jobs in the U.S., in reverse order, drafted with input from compensation experts:
10) Wedding photographers
Photographers typically charge $2,000 to $5,000 to shoot a wedding, for what amounts to a one-day assignment plus processing time. Some get $15,000 or more. Yet many mope through the job, bumping guests in their way without apology, with the attitude: "I'm just doing this for the money until Time or National Geographic calls."
They must cover equipment and film-development costs. Still, many in major metropolitan areas who shoot two weddings each weekend in the May-to-October marrying season pull in $100,000 for six months' work.
Yet let's face it; much of their work is mediocre. Have you ever really been wowed flipping the pages of a wedding album handed you by recent newlyweds? Annie Leibovitz and Richard Avedon they're not, but some charge fees as if they're in the same league.
-------------- Come on gang...this guy can't get by saying this about us....let's send him a message!!!!!!
End quote
Interesting that he doesn't even consider that SOME (not all) photographers just MIGHT actually be over paid.
Anybody know of any Open Source traffic control system? I hear a lot of people complaining about how poorly many of the lights in their city work. Maybe "we" can do better?
Would it be feasible to code such a system as an open source project? I guess I can't think of any reason why not. Just need enough volunteers with the appropriate knowledge.
Then of course you'd have to figure out how you'd get anyone to use it... I suppose the best way (probably the only way) would be to start a company that manufactures the control hardware. Though it likely would be very difficult to break into what is I assume well established market.
Slashdot Mirror
What soundcard? What were you pluging in?
I've checked M-W and dictionary.com and can't find zyxt...
http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/8675309.htm
clickey
HAHAHA..I had the EXACT same thing happen to me...still got a little mark on my finger from it.
You got a lot of experence with that?
Quote added as #220288. Thanks for participating. :-)
Ahha okay, thanks for the info
And here's the text
TFN's Episode 3 Review
A fictional work by Joshua Griffin
would be dated April 2005
Finally there's a prequel to be proud of. Not that the others have been all that bad - they just haven't been able to cast the same spell over fans that the originals had back in the 70s. We argued that Episode 1 was misunderstood, that Episode 2 was a step in the right direction and prayed for Episode 3 to deliver.
And man does it deliver.
I'm just returning from something Lucasfilm has never done before and quite frankly something I never thought they would do. Although there is still a month before the release of the film worldwide, they showed a select group of people the movie. It wasn't finished, mind you - as always Lucas tinkers until the end. There was one minor scene still incomplete with bluescreen he filmed just the week before our showing. But even in it's nearly finished form you can see the soul of Star Wars in this one.
There are plenty of special effects in this movie - I think at last count they were approaching 2,200. But the driving force of the story captivates like the classics. For the first time we see Anakin's fall from glory to become the evil Darth Vader. You can hardly believe what he'll do even to those he loves after his Dark Side embrace. Any momentum from the prequels and anticipation from the classics lives out on screen here aggressively.
Returning cast for the final theatrical Star Wars movie include Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker), Natalie Portman (Padme Skywalker), Ian McDiarmid (Palpatine), Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu), Robert Coleman/Frank Oz (Yoda), Jimmy Smits (Bail Organa), and Christopher Lee (Count Dooku). Joining the prequel veterans in the last installment are notables Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), ILM (General Grievous) Wayne Pygram (Tarkin).
The movie starts with a bang - we're in the middle of a giant space battle - the climax of the Clone Wars. When I was a kid I imagined how this would play out, and this exceeds even those expectations. There's the epic capital ship battles moving in side by side like pirate vessels maneuvering for strategic position on each other, while intimate skirmishes that will define the outcome of the war take place nearby. As these huge ships rip apart you see clones being sucked out into space to their doom.
Palpatine is shackled to a solitary chair inside one of these weapons of war, a fully ironic and iconic image since it is he that has orchestrated these very events frozen in the starfield behind him. You can tell from these early moments several key elements are at last coming together. Lucas' Episode I introduction of characters and Episode 2 development of the plot are mere footnotes to the script and acting of this final film. We are on a whole new level of Star Wars here.
I remember the first time I watched Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker in Episode II. I felt he was a bit stiff and wooden like the others, but after watching Episode III I think I understand it better. He is cocky - full of pride as Yoda predicted - and it would eventually be his downfall. You can see it as he slices through separatist forces or flies his Starfighter and it peaks as he's saving a huge cruiser from destruction over Corusant. Even as they hang on for dear life as the ship careens in circles you can see him slipping deeper and deeper into pure evil.
Portman returns to the film a bit later than expected, and this time also delivers her best performance of the prequels. Yoda is amazing yet again - you'll see him do more than you ever imagined again this time, and Ewan McGregor still shines as the venerable and protective Obi-Wan. There's a new and temporary villain named General Grievous, another disposable bad guy in the prequel tradition of Maul and Dooku. But he's a fantastic character with lots of lightsabers and exciting moments. Another part of his defense is that he is central to the plot of the film - think of him as
I just played Anirak for about 20 minutes. It's addictive! :)
Does X5K MaStEr X5K (the kid) ever read slashdot?
Has he done any other programming since making Anirak?
BTW my high score was 308000...If you've tried it, post yours.
-TMF
What's the total number of unique users? Since you didn't use a redirect for the Mozilla download link there isn't a way to tell how many users have downloaded mozilla...is there?
*parrents sig is
(get the backstory)
I was thinking more along the lines of what is the name of your 'powerful, modern email client' :p
-TMF
Which is?
Did it just (like 2 seconds ago) get /.'ed or did you get the C&D already?
I considered building a MythTV box a couple of months ago, but when I started adding up what it'd cost I found I could get a DirecTivo for a lot less ($100 w contract). Though I would like some of the MythTv features such as the photo slideshows.
:p
I haven't gotten the DirecTivo box yet. We have COX Digital Cable around here and they just started offering the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000 which you rent for $15 a month). This box is absolutely HORRIBLE! It's features are beta...no, alpha quality.
For example, if you are watching a Live show that is being recorded, and you are watching say 15 minutes behind real time, when the show ends in real time the box will STOP playing from the delayed point you were watching and jump to the next show that is just beginning. Then if you wish to continue watching the show from the point you were at you must access the recorded show list, scroll through ALL of your recorded shows (no search of any kind), find the show that was just on, then you gotta FAST FORWARD to where you were. Oh yeah, you might as well go get a snack as there's only 3 fast forward speeds, slow (too fast for fine tuning), medium and fast (32x iirc, sounds fast but it's not fast enough when you want to get 3/4 of the way through a hour program in a hurry).
I'm ditching Cox for the DirecTivo very soon. Or I might reconsider MythTV again. Only thing is I REALLY like that you can record two shows at once with the DirecTivo, and to do that with MythTv I'd have to have two DirecTv boxes (or two cable boxes)
Anyway why am I posting this......Oh yeah. I was going to ask which capture card you are using. Guess I got a carried away.
-TMF
Why didn't you just use Asterisk ?
/.
/. mangles the irc link)
Asterisk is an AWSOME PBX system that doesn't get mentioned enough on
It's supported features are equivalent to a PBX costing several thousand bucks. Including support for VOIP and T-1(E-1)'s
Some of the other features include Voicemail, Conference calling, Caller ID, an Auto Attendant (press 1 for sales, 2 for support,), Call Queuing (for call centers), Call Detail Records, more
The documentation is a little sparse but they are currently working on the
Asterisk Handbook Project (warning PDF).
I also found the Getting Started With Asterisk Guide by Andy Powell very useful.
And there's a IRC channel #Asterisk on FreeNode (try irc.debian.org) (argh
There's some more links to support pages including a Wiki at the bottom of this page
Who thinks that "The UPS Store"(R) ("WE RUN THE TIGHTEST SHIP IN THE SHIPPING BUSINESS(R)"!) will stop offering FedEx(R) services in the future?
Or perhaps FedEx(R) will decide to not offer their services at "The UPS Store"(R) ("VISIONARY THINKING TODAY(R)"!).
The UPS Store is a registered trademark of United Parcel Service of America, Inc.
FedEx is a registered trademark of Federal Express, Inc.
Just found a thread in the "free trial area" discussing the article and also Kirk's (the forum owners) email encouraging people to "flood" the guy who wrote the article's email. linkey (click). You can be certain that this will be moved to the paid area with in a few weeks.
The "free trial area" used to be the "free forum" and anybody was free to post anything they liked (photography related), use the search function, view member's profiles, send Private Messages, post attachments (pictures for critique) etc. However recently somebody had the wise idea to make it just a "trial area" instead.
Now all the aforementioned features have been disabled for all but subscribers.
Furthermore they regularly move posts from the "free trial area" to the "Paid section" which they deem to have "confidential" information in them which they don't want the "public" to have access to. Sometimes they will move the post of a non-paid member to the paid section and the poster can no longer access that post.
For example you are not allowed to post ANY pricing info in the free section, regardless of whether or not you care if your clientele can access the info.
I was considering joining as it seemed like a nice group of fairly talented photographers and I would have liked to have the benefit of their input, however when they started locking up the free area that just really turned me off to the whole thing. I just go to some other forums such as Rob Galbraith's forums now.
I'd be interested to hear more of what they have to say also. My previous post was a quote of an email I received as I am a member of the "free trial area".
Maybe somebody will post a link to this discussion over there.
* Example. Photographer Costs in the FREE Section
Text (begin quote)
(end quote)
Hrm... guess I should add tags
Quote
End quote
Interesting that he doesn't even consider that SOME (not all) photographers just MIGHT actually be over paid.
Well? What is the URL? I'm SURE your friend will not mind being /.'ed with prospective customers.
Anybody know of any Open Source traffic control system? I hear a lot of people complaining about how poorly many of the lights in their city work. Maybe "we" can do better?
Would it be feasible to code such a system as an open source project? I guess I can't think of any reason why not. Just need enough volunteers with the appropriate knowledge.
Then of course you'd have to figure out how you'd get anyone to use it... I suppose the best way (probably the only way) would be to start a company that manufactures the control hardware. Though it likely would be very difficult to break into what is I assume well established market.
Ideas?
Or maybe this is just a stupid idea...
-future
Google link for NYT Story and of course the NYT Random Login Generator