District 9 was definitely worth seeing in the theater. I hate going to movies; the crowds are usually rude and obnoxious. I downloaded Wolverine (2 out of 5 thumbs up) and did not feel like I missed anything by not going to the movies. My wife is a Harry Potter fan, so we got sucked into that sucky movie in the cinema - big budget disappointment (1 out of 5 thumbs up).
District 9 held the movie audience in the theater where I saw it in rapt, silent attention from beginning to end - no cellphone conversations, no "yo man!" bantering - nothing. I saw all three Matrix movies, Alien, Aliens, Alien III, Alien Resurrection (4 out of 5 thumbs up for Resurrection) and District 9 is without a doubt far superior to 99% of the pseudo sci fi crap released over the last 20 years.
The fact that it was made for $30 million and looked like $80 million makes the journey all the better. It is so iconoclastic and unusual in every way, I am certain that whoever who told Neill Blomkamp he couldn't direct Halo must be kicking himself all the way to the poorhouse. This movie does not beat you over the head with moralistic posturing - it tells a story which is compelling, fascinating and unexpected.
It was worth the effort, time and money to see it in person in the cinema - and I can't think of any movie I've seen in a while I would say that about...
I was basing my comments on feedback from the Greenkeys listserv - a large number of hams on that list were reporting problems with interference from CFL bulbs. Perhaps cheaper lights from less careful manufacturers put out more interference than others...
Compact flourescent lighting is much more damaging to ham radio transmissions. Those eco-friendly tubes are poorly shielded and generate tremendous amounts of radio frequency interference in the form of electromagnetic radiation. Ask any ham - they will tell you that this is a much bigger problem than powerline networking.
I took my Garmin GPS on a flight a while back. It was very entertaining. My travel statistics were totally bonkers. The "car" was traveling in excess of 350MPH. I had to hold it near the window to receive a signal, but I could tell exactly which cities, towns and highways we were flying over.
For large portions of the flight, we followed interstate highways. The most fun was watching the GPS as we taxied for takeoff - it dutifully followed our path off the end of runway "to infinity and beyond."
My wife won't let me do this anymore. I tried to explain that the GPS does not transmit a signal that could interfere with the aircraft avionics - it merely receives one. She was not convinced.
to stop Cyberdyne from sending the Terminator back to kill his mom. Unfortunately, the Terminator got sidetracked and is terminating the government of California...
1. If you do not develop software, verbose and single-user modes are only needed when troubleshooting the computer for a startup issue. 2. You cannot enter single user or verbose mode if the computer owner or administrator has enabled Open Firmware Password Protection.*
3. When in single-user mode, the keyboard layout is US English.
I'm ok with that, if you restore "common carrier" status to the former telcos, now "datacos".
common carrier: In a telecommunications context, a telecommunications company that holds itself out to the public for hire to provide communications transmission services.
In the United States, such companies are usually subject to regulation by Federal and state regulatory commissions.
It was the Bell System concept of "universal service" under common carrier status that provided efficient, cheap, regulated phone service to everyone. From Wikipedia:
Universal service in telecommunications was eventually established as U.S. national policy by the Communications Act of 1934, whose preamble declared its purpose as "to make available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, a rapid, efficient, Nation-wide, and world-wide wire and radio communication service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges".
The chief purpose of this law was to combine the Federal Radio Commission with the ICC's wire communications powers, including regulation of AT&T, into a new Federal Communications Commission with greater powers over both radio and wire communications.
It's time to apply the same concept to our new data-transmitting overlords - and I believe that you're going to get net neutrality at no extra charge - literally!
I have an XP Pro SP2 OEM installer disc that came with an HP desktop years ago. It will pretty much install onto any computer and authenticate any serial number I copy from any other computer's XP Pro sticker.
Theoretically of course... If I upgrade to SP3 before authenticating, trouble ensues...
When you have Google Voice, T-Mobile & a Blackberry, you can forward all of your voicemails to your Google Voice account. From there, you can screen, block, etc all of your calls. In the Blackberry setup menus for T-Mobile subscribers there is a setting to change the voicemail service's default phone number.
I changed my T-Mobile default voicemail number to my Google Voice number, and now cellular life is great! I get an email every time I receive a voicemail, and I can play back voicemail on a computer or landline without incurring any airtime.
I administer all of my blocked caller lists, etc, in Google Voice and have customized greetings for all of my friends and family. It totally unnerves them when my recording greets them personally by name!
I can send unknown callers to voicemail on the fly, and then listen in while they leave a message.
I don't know if the same settings exist for other cellphone platforms or service providers, but I want to experiment and see if plugging my Blackberry's T-Mobile SIM card into an unlocked iPhone would retain this functionality - it should.
Windows 7 "I Am Rich" edition - $999 - Once activated, it treats the user to a large, glowing red gem in the center of the screen. That's all it does, so it is compatible with everything from cellphones to netbooks to Etch-a-Sketch devices...
Slashdot Mirror
then Joe the Plumber...
on a non-admin account that I delete after browsing...
glass of ice water from the Apple Store there...
ironically, it is up and down all the time. it attained this attribute after it received the name, not before.
I got the impression there was some disagreement between the studio and the producer/director. I was thinking more of this conflict...
District 9 was definitely worth seeing in the theater. I hate going to movies; the crowds are usually rude and obnoxious. I downloaded Wolverine (2 out of 5 thumbs up) and did not feel like I missed anything by not going to the movies. My wife is a Harry Potter fan, so we got sucked into that sucky movie in the cinema - big budget disappointment (1 out of 5 thumbs up).
:-)
District 9 held the movie audience in the theater where I saw it in rapt, silent attention from beginning to end - no cellphone conversations, no "yo man!" bantering - nothing. I saw all three Matrix movies, Alien, Aliens, Alien III, Alien Resurrection (4 out of 5 thumbs up for Resurrection) and District 9 is without a doubt far superior to 99% of the pseudo sci fi crap released over the last 20 years.
The fact that it was made for $30 million and looked like $80 million makes the journey all the better. It is so iconoclastic and unusual in every way, I am certain that whoever who told Neill Blomkamp he couldn't direct Halo must be kicking himself all the way to the poorhouse. This movie does not beat you over the head with moralistic posturing - it tells a story which is compelling, fascinating and unexpected.
It was worth the effort, time and money to see it in person in the cinema - and I can't think of any movie I've seen in a while I would say that about...
ok, maybe Army of Darkness...
when the boot is crushing his face, forever...
I was basing my comments on feedback from the Greenkeys listserv - a large number of hams on that list were reporting problems with interference from CFL bulbs. Perhaps cheaper lights from less careful manufacturers put out more interference than others...
Compact flourescent lighting is much more damaging to ham radio transmissions. Those eco-friendly tubes are poorly shielded and generate tremendous amounts of radio frequency interference in the form of electromagnetic radiation. Ask any ham - they will tell you that this is a much bigger problem than powerline networking.
Just bury the contract language in the shrinkwrap clickthrough license - nobody reads them anyway...
I took my Garmin GPS on a flight a while back. It was very entertaining. My travel statistics were totally bonkers. The "car" was traveling in excess of 350MPH. I had to hold it near the window to receive a signal, but I could tell exactly which cities, towns and highways we were flying over.
For large portions of the flight, we followed interstate highways. The most fun was watching the GPS as we taxied for takeoff - it dutifully followed our path off the end of runway "to infinity and beyond."
My wife won't let me do this anymore. I tried to explain that the GPS does not transmit a signal that could interfere with the aircraft avionics - it merely receives one. She was not convinced.
my MBP runs Windows like a dream in Parallels. XP, not Vista.
to stop Cyberdyne from sending the Terminator back to kill his mom. Unfortunately, the Terminator got sidetracked and is terminating the government of California...
1987 Plymouth == so dirty it's banned from sale within the U.S. (except as an older used car)
With all due respect, was there any chance of anyone selling 1987 Plymouths in a form other than an older used car?
Notes
1. If you do not develop software, verbose and single-user modes are only needed when troubleshooting the computer for a startup issue.
2. You cannot enter single user or verbose mode if the computer owner or administrator has enabled Open Firmware Password Protection.*
3. When in single-user mode, the keyboard layout is US English.
* I do on my MacBookPro...
could be even more interesting!
I'm ok with that, if you restore "common carrier" status to the former telcos, now "datacos".
common carrier: In a telecommunications context, a telecommunications company that holds itself out to the public for hire to provide communications transmission services.
In the United States, such companies are usually subject to regulation by Federal and state regulatory commissions.
It was the Bell System concept of "universal service" under common carrier status that provided efficient, cheap, regulated phone service to everyone. From Wikipedia:
Universal service in telecommunications was eventually established as U.S. national policy by the Communications Act of 1934, whose preamble declared its purpose as "to make available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, a rapid, efficient, Nation-wide, and world-wide wire and radio communication service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges".
The chief purpose of this law was to combine the Federal Radio Commission with the ICC's wire communications powers, including regulation of AT&T, into a new Federal Communications Commission with greater powers over both radio and wire communications.
It's time to apply the same concept to our new data-transmitting overlords - and I believe that you're going to get net neutrality at no extra charge - literally!
Item was not as described. Some items missing from order. Listing was incomplete and misleading...
I have an XP Pro SP2 OEM installer disc that came with an HP desktop years ago. It will pretty much install onto any computer and authenticate any serial number I copy from any other computer's XP Pro sticker.
Theoretically of course... If I upgrade to SP3 before authenticating, trouble ensues...
Actually, Duke Nukem Forever operates in the 3DRealms...
Go into your Blackberry call log, then hit the Blackberry menu key (one with 7 dots on it), goto options, then call forwarding.
Set FORWARD ALL CALLS to DO NOT FORWARD.
Set FORWARD UNANSWERED CALLS for BUSY / NO REPLY / NOT REACHABLE to your Google Voice number!
When you have Google Voice, T-Mobile & a Blackberry, you can forward all of your voicemails to your Google Voice account. From there, you can screen, block, etc all of your calls. In the Blackberry setup menus for T-Mobile subscribers there is a setting to change the voicemail service's default phone number.
I changed my T-Mobile default voicemail number to my Google Voice number, and now cellular life is great! I get an email every time I receive a voicemail, and I can play back voicemail on a computer or landline without incurring any airtime.
I administer all of my blocked caller lists, etc, in Google Voice and have customized greetings for all of my friends and family. It totally unnerves them when my recording greets them personally by name!
I can send unknown callers to voicemail on the fly, and then listen in while they leave a message.
I don't know if the same settings exist for other cellphone platforms or service providers, but I want to experiment and see if plugging my Blackberry's T-Mobile SIM card into an unlocked iPhone would retain this functionality - it should.
awesome Laurie Anderson reference...!
then I'll buy it...
Windows 7 "I Am Rich" edition - $999 - Once activated, it treats the user to a large, glowing red gem in the center of the screen. That's all it does, so it is compatible with everything from cellphones to netbooks to Etch-a-Sketch devices...