To clarify any potential confusion, Palantir Technologies (palantirtech.com) is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Palantir.net, Inc. (palantir.net), which creates open source software solutions. Palantir.net is not involved in any way with these allegations.
While it's a very interesting film from an experimental point of view, THX 1138 is not something that's likely to appeal to too many Star Wars fans, apart from the George Lucas connection. It's set in a dystopian future where everything is run by machines, and there is very little interpersonal dialogue or human interaction. Like I said, it's interesting from an experimental point of view to see how Lucas uses film to tell a story in a very non-conventional way, but it's clearly not aimed at mass audiences.
If you want to watch an early George Lucas film, most people will be better off with "American Graffiti", which got a pretty good DVD release a few years back, and is a very entertaining film.
But using this logic, they're always going to be right - everyone knows that Apple will most likely announce a PPC970 system at some point in the future.
Predicting something that everyone knows will happen eventually is not so significant as correctly predicting *when* it will happen.
I know it's been asked before, but since it seems like Slashdot posts a news story about the Cringely column every week, there's no good reason these stories don't belong in their own category, as I'm sure many readers already read these on their own every week and don't need to be reminded of it.
Well, at least #2 is relevant, because Nixon did play a big role in persecuting anti-war activists through the FBI's COINTEL program. Apart from Watergate, this was arguably one of the most distinctive "achivements" of his administration.
Re:good, but no Memento (off topic rant)
on
Review: Insomnia
·
· Score: 2
i assume anyone reading this either saw it or doesn't care. not to give anything away, but there isn't much to give away.
I dunno, I think Katz blew it in the third paragraph by talking about Dormer's planted evidence. That's a point that isn't brought up until well into the movie, and is certainly not obvious from everything that comes before.
it's obvious that Bernie Shifman is a moron asshole spammer, and on that basis I have no sympathy for him. But what Neil Schwartzman has done goes a little too far IMHO. He's posted Bernie's home address, phone number, aerial pictures of his apartment on his Web site. The popularity of that site has now given Bernie the dubious honor of "The Most Hated Man on the Internet" (Bill Gates notwithstanding). Shifman is no doubt the recepient of thousands of harassing phone calls, e-mails, people outside his apartment, etc. He will never be able to get a decent job again, and his life is all but ruined.
And yet he has been proved guilty of no crime.
Is this the best that the so-called egalitarian culture of the Internet has to offer? I don't see any Jonathan Katz articles standing up for the rights of this guy, who's currently getting the electronic equivalent of a lynching.
Yes, Bernie's moronic threats and accusations are highly amusing, but it's important to remember that there's a real person behind them. A person of obviously diminished capacity, who honestly thought he was doing the right thing. If Bernie Shifman were to commit suicide tomorrow, how would Neil Schwartzman and everyone else who took part in making this guy's life hell feel?
(And yes, the case can be made that Bernie did include his personal information in his spam, but does that mean he gave up his right to privacy? How many strangers do I have to send my resume to before I can make the assumption it'll be spread all over the Web? 5? 50? 500? 5000? Where's the line?)
In the end, I think this is really a matter between Bernie and Neil, and those are the two that need to settle it. I hate spam just as much as the next guy, but I think people need to be proven guilty (in a court of law) before being condemmed. Let's not all let ourselves be guided by mob rule. The Internet was built for better things than this.
AOL isn't in the best financial shape right now - the merger with Time Warner didn't work out as well as planned, and they're going to have huge losses this year. I'm guessing the thinking here is that if they can reach a huge out-of-court settlement with MS, it'll help them get back in the black. After all, Netscape's not good for much else anymore...
Brian Valentine exists at Microsoft, he's the Senior Vice President of the Windows Devision [microsoft.com]. Would he address his colleagues in such a way? Why not.
In fact, if you've ever seen him speak (as I did at the Chicago WinXP launch), you'd realize that note was perfectly in character.
First impressions of A.I.
on
Review: A.I.
·
· Score: 5
I got to see A.I. Thursday night at a preview screening here in Chicago. As someone who's been following the project since Kubrick was going to do it, I've posted some of my initial impressions below, with no spoilers:
I think A.I. would have been a brilliant film had Kubrick been able to produce it, but in Spielberg's hands the results are mixed. You get
the feeling that Spielberg understood about 90% of the story, but there's still another 10% there that he didn't know what to do with, particularly in the film's third act.
Several film critics have talked about Kubrick's use of "non-submersible" units - constructing a movie out of five or six sequences that support the argument of the film and tying them together with narrative links. In most of Kubrick's films, he ties together these units with such skill that a casual viewer doesn't notice that they're there. In A.I., which follows this (for lack of a better world) "Kubrickean" narrative structure the bits are all there, but they feel disjointed and clumsily put together. The transition to the third act in particular, is particularly clumsy, and it becomes clear that Spielberg doesn't completely understand all the
ramifications of the final scenes, because they aren't thematically consistent with the rest of the film.
I think one of the problems is that Spielberg is not an experienced screenwriter, and has trouble with some of the finer points of narrative storytelling. Additionally, his films tend to fall more into the traditional Hollywood narrative structure, so making something outside of that is a challenge for him, especially when
working a much faster schedule than Kubrick would have.
The other thing I missed was the acute sense of irony that fills Kubrick's films. The story of A.I. is really one of a huge cosmic joke, and I didn't get the feeling that Spielberg got it. There is certainly humor in the story (a welcome diversion from some of the film's emotional intensity), but it's "cute" humor, rather than
satire.
Spielberg does get credit for capturing the look that Kubrick probably intended for the film - no doubt the numerous storyboards provided by the Kubrick Estate helped. Also, the performances by all of the lead actors are fantastic, particularly Haley Joel Osment.
The John Williams score is very overbearing in parts - one of the great things about Kubrick's films was the economy with which he used music - here it's a constant presence, and when Spielberg is trying to make a point, he just cranks up the volume.
Despite it's flaws, I think it's a movie worth watching, however, if only for the little nuggets that shine through. It's one of Spielberg's most ambitious films, and I think he did very well with it in parts.
Interestingly, I actually think Kubrick may have been on to something by proposing that Spielberg direct and he produce. It's well known that Spielberg has no patience for post-production, and leaves most of those duties to his long-time editor, Michael Kahn. Had Kubrick been in charge of post-production on this film, and taken the time to get it absolutely right, I think it could have been a masterpiece, even with Spielberg directing.
Anyway, those are just my initial impressions - I will probably see it again, although I don't plan on paying more than matinee prices....
Actually "HAL's Legacy" is an entire collection of essays by various writers (including A.I. experts like Marvin Minsky) that was published back in 1997 about the kind of technology it would take to create a HAL 9000 computer. The link above is to one of the essays included in this great book
Slashdot Mirror
To clarify any potential confusion, Palantir Technologies (palantirtech.com) is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Palantir.net, Inc. (palantir.net), which creates open source software solutions. Palantir.net is not involved in any way with these allegations.
While it's a very interesting film from an experimental point of view, THX 1138 is not something that's likely to appeal to too many Star Wars fans, apart from the George Lucas connection. It's set in a dystopian future where everything is run by machines, and there is very little interpersonal dialogue or human interaction. Like I said, it's interesting from an experimental point of view to see how Lucas uses film to tell a story in a very non-conventional way, but it's clearly not aimed at mass audiences.
If you want to watch an early George Lucas film, most people will be better off with "American Graffiti", which got a pretty good DVD release a few years back, and is a very entertaining film.
My girlfriend got me razor-sharp shurikens that I can use to assassinate my enemies in the dark of night!
Apologies if this a redundant comment, but did anyone think it strange that the word "kernel" is spelled as "kernal" thoughout this entire article?
Methinks the NYT is in big trouble these days if they can't even be bothered to proof-read their articles.
But using this logic, they're always going to be right - everyone knows that Apple will most likely announce a PPC970 system at some point in the future.
Predicting something that everyone knows will happen eventually is not so significant as correctly predicting *when* it will happen.
Don't forget Vash's motto:
LOVE AND PEACE!
(repeat ad infinitum)
I know it's been asked before, but since it seems like Slashdot posts a news story about the Cringely column every week, there's no good reason these stories don't belong in their own category, as I'm sure many readers already read these on their own every week and don't need to be reminded of it.
Well, at least #2 is relevant, because Nixon did play a big role in persecuting anti-war activists through the FBI's COINTEL program. Apart from Watergate, this was arguably one of the most distinctive "achivements" of his administration.
i assume anyone reading this either saw it or doesn't care. not to give anything away, but there isn't much to give away.
I dunno, I think Katz blew it in the third paragraph by talking about Dormer's planted evidence. That's a point that isn't brought up until well into the movie, and is certainly not obvious from everything that comes before.
Better yet, send out an e-mail to everyone telling them about this great money-making opportunity!
..that Captain Gideon and the crew of the Excalibur were unsuccessful in finding the cure for the Drakh plague.
Shifman got no more than he deserved.
Did he?
it's obvious that Bernie Shifman is a moron asshole spammer, and on that basis I have no sympathy for him. But what Neil Schwartzman has done goes a little too far IMHO. He's posted Bernie's home address, phone number, aerial pictures of his apartment on his Web site. The popularity of that site has now given Bernie the dubious honor of "The Most Hated Man on the Internet" (Bill Gates notwithstanding). Shifman is no doubt the recepient of thousands of harassing phone calls, e-mails, people outside his apartment, etc. He will never be able to get a decent job again, and his life is all but ruined.
And yet he has been proved guilty of no crime.
Is this the best that the so-called egalitarian culture of the Internet has to offer? I don't see any Jonathan Katz articles standing up for the rights of this guy, who's currently getting the electronic equivalent of a lynching.
Yes, Bernie's moronic threats and accusations are highly amusing, but it's important to remember that there's a real person behind them. A person of obviously diminished capacity, who honestly thought he was doing the right thing. If Bernie Shifman were to commit suicide tomorrow, how would Neil Schwartzman and everyone else who took part in making this guy's life hell feel?
(And yes, the case can be made that Bernie did include his personal information in his spam, but does that mean he gave up his right to privacy? How many strangers do I have to send my resume to before I can make the assumption it'll be spread all over the Web? 5? 50? 500? 5000? Where's the line?)
In the end, I think this is really a matter between Bernie and Neil, and those are the two that need to settle it. I hate spam just as much as the next guy, but I think people need to be proven guilty (in a court of law) before being condemmed. Let's not all let ourselves be guided by mob rule. The Internet was built for better things than this.
Here's the correct link to the Fortune article - in essence, AOLTW saw $155 billion in market cap evaporate after the merger.
2 0204/206105.html
http://www.fortune.com/articles/2002/magazine/200
AOL isn't in the best financial shape right now - the merger with Time Warner didn't work out as well as planned, and they're going to have huge losses this year. I'm guessing the thinking here is that if they can reach a huge out-of-court settlement with MS, it'll help them get back in the black. After all, Netscape's not good for much else anymore...
Just wait for Sonic 2.
The 440GP was being considered, but Nintendo opted to go with the 750. You can read all about it here.
Although he was a producer and uncredited editor on the film.
Brian Valentine exists at Microsoft, he's the Senior Vice President of the Windows Devision [microsoft.com]. Would he address his colleagues in such a way? Why not.
In fact, if you've ever seen him speak (as I did at the Chicago WinXP launch), you'd realize that note was perfectly in character.
From Apple's iPod Web page:
"Small though it is, iPod has a hefty 5GB hard disk drive."
The Supremes didn't decide anything. This was a federal appeals court ruling.
X10's New Wireless Camera!
Spy on your girlfriend's digestive tract!
I got to see A.I. Thursday night at a preview screening here in Chicago. As someone who's been following the project since Kubrick was going to do it, I've posted some of my initial impressions below, with no spoilers:
I think A.I. would have been a brilliant film had Kubrick been able to produce it, but in Spielberg's hands the results are mixed. You get
the feeling that Spielberg understood about 90% of the story, but there's still another 10% there that he didn't know what to do with, particularly in the film's third act.
Several film critics have talked about Kubrick's use of "non-submersible" units - constructing a movie out of five or six sequences that support the argument of the film and tying them together with narrative links. In most of Kubrick's films, he ties together these units with such skill that a casual viewer doesn't notice that they're there. In A.I., which follows this (for lack of a better world) "Kubrickean" narrative structure the bits are all there, but they feel disjointed and clumsily put together. The transition to the third act in particular, is particularly clumsy, and it becomes clear that Spielberg doesn't completely understand all the
ramifications of the final scenes, because they aren't thematically consistent with the rest of the film.
I think one of the problems is that Spielberg is not an experienced screenwriter, and has trouble with some of the finer points of narrative storytelling. Additionally, his films tend to fall more into the traditional Hollywood narrative structure, so making something outside of that is a challenge for him, especially when
working a much faster schedule than Kubrick would have.
The other thing I missed was the acute sense of irony that fills Kubrick's films. The story of A.I. is really one of a huge cosmic joke, and I didn't get the feeling that Spielberg got it. There is certainly humor in the story (a welcome diversion from some of the film's emotional intensity), but it's "cute" humor, rather than
satire.
Spielberg does get credit for capturing the look that Kubrick probably intended for the film - no doubt the numerous storyboards provided by the Kubrick Estate helped. Also, the performances by all of the lead actors are fantastic, particularly Haley Joel Osment.
The John Williams score is very overbearing in parts - one of the great things about Kubrick's films was the economy with which he used music - here it's a constant presence, and when Spielberg is trying to make a point, he just cranks up the volume.
Despite it's flaws, I think it's a movie worth watching, however, if only for the little nuggets that shine through. It's one of Spielberg's most ambitious films, and I think he did very well with it in parts.
Interestingly, I actually think Kubrick may have been on to something by proposing that Spielberg direct and he produce. It's well known that Spielberg has no patience for post-production, and leaves most of those duties to his long-time editor, Michael Kahn. Had Kubrick been in charge of post-production on this film, and taken the time to get it absolutely right, I think it could have been a masterpiece, even with Spielberg directing.
Anyway, those are just my initial impressions - I will probably see it again, although I don't plan on paying more than matinee prices....
I would have read this article, but I just didn't feel like paying attention...
The poem has been around since 1976, and the algorhythm is even older...
Actually "HAL's Legacy" is an entire collection of essays by various writers (including A.I. experts like Marvin Minsky) that was published back in 1997 about the kind of technology it would take to create a HAL 9000 computer. The link above is to one of the essays included in this great book