About 2 years ago, I tried out both Blockbuster's and Netflix's mail rental services at the same time. Blockbuster wasn't even CLOSE to Netflix. Blockbuster had a much weaker selection, they were slow as Christmas in receiving and shipping, and they treated their queue as more of a guideline than a rule (I would often get my 6th movie down, when the five above it were listed as "available"--and this was during the TRIAL period, before they even had any reason to throttle me). About the only thing Blockbuster had going for it was that "return it to the store, get a free store rental" thing. And even that wasn't enough for me (I still went with Netflix).
Now, two years later, Netflix has added streaming service which lets me stream movies over my Xbox for free. And Blockbuster has castrated their one "return it to the store" advantage. Why anyone who wasn't completely brain-dead would go for Blockbuster over the far-superior Netflix these days, I can't begin to imagine. In the mail/online rental world Blockbuster came to the game late, batted poorly when they got there, and then began spitting at their fans as they left the dugout. They're in the 9th inning and down by several runs and it doesn't look good for the once-mighty Blockbuster.
Doing an R-rated Batman is pointless. Batman as a character is a boring dipshit. It's not like he's suddenly going to turn morally ambiguous and start killing bad guys instead of tying them up like some lame-ass pansy. Show me a Batman where he starts using a gun, killing bad guys, and telling the cops to go fuck themselves if they don't like his methods (seriously, the Gotham cops are always portrayed as completely impotent idiots in the Batman universe--why does he keep showing these ass-clowns respect?). Now THAT would make for a good R-rated Batman film!
Lucky if you're a 12-year-old who thinks fart jokes are the just COOLEST THING IN THE WORLD. Not so lucky if you're an adult looking for movie fare a little more sophisticated that "LOOK AT HOW COOL OUR NEW FX SHOTS ARE!!!!"
Watchmen was the first superhero movie I've voluntarily watched since "Mystery Men" (which was pretty funny). I despise most comic book movies (unlike Watchmen, their source materials don't DESERVE to be called "graphic novels"). They're cookie-cutter, predictable, trite pieces of FX-driven shit. I had a girlfriend who forced me to watch the first Toby Macquire "Spiderman" movie and it made me almost physically ill. God, poor Willem Defoe and the indignities he had to endure in that turd (I think he actually shakes his fist in the air at one point and yells "I'll get you Spiderman!"). Sure, that kind of candy crap is fine for kids (and those with the maturity of kids), but I'm an ADULT. Watchmen was the first superhero movie in a long time that was actually geared toward me, and not just my 13-year-old nephew (who rates the quality of movies based solely on how many cool FX shots they contain and honestly doesn't see the "bad guy vanquished/good guy wins" ending of every Batman/Superman/X-men/Shitman movie coming long before the first frame even clicks).
The fact that so many supposed adults, when asked about the quality of Watchmen, responded with "OMG, they dared show a penis!!" shows how brain-dead and immature the average moviegoer really is. But for those of us who've matured beyond the mental age of a 14-year-old schoolgirl giggling at a Jonas Brothers video, it was a amazing anomaly--the first, and sadly probably last, adult superhero film.
Consumer protection laws in the (U.S. anyway) are a joke. And no law that I know of is going to FORCE an ISP to provide you with service. Most of these laws are designed to protect the consumer from fraud and deception, NOT to guarantee them service from a particular company. Again, you might get a refund, but no one is going to come in and tell AT&T "You have to have this guy as a customer." If you're aware of any law that would do this, please cite it.
As for education, the point still stands either way. You have no civil right to internet service either.
Constraining a director to a PG-13 rating means restricting their freedom beyond even those restrictions already imposed by the budget, time, etc. You can hedge it or slice it anyway you like, but it's still a straitjacket. Less freedom means less variety. Less variety forever limits the possibilities of the entire genre. This will have the practical effect of reestablishing the Hays Code for anyone wanting to do any sort of comic book adaption (and I say "comic book" here and not "graphic novel" quite intentially, because PG-13 means "comic book").
They don't need "proof." There is no law that says your cable or phone company *has* to provide you with internet service (it's not a property right like public education). They can cut you off at any time for any reason, and the most you could sue them for would be a breach of contract lawsuit which would get you at most a 1 month cash refund. That's why the RIAA/MPAA thugs like this approach so much. They no longer have to deal with messy lawsuits where someone might actually question their evidence and how it was obtained. They just go to your ISP, say "Cut this guy off, we think he's pirating" and BAM, you're off the internet for good!
I'm not sure where YOU live, but in most parts of the U.S. there are only one or two ISP's available (for broadband, anyway). The only alternative most people have to their DSL provider (i.e. AT&T or similar) is one cable provider. And that cable provider is usually some big-name ISP (Time-Warner, Comcast, etc.) that's probably going to follow right on AT&T's heals in kowtowing to the RIAA/MPAA thugs.
No, the practical reason for the 2nd Amendment was the same as the practical reason for the other 9 amendments it accompanied--to gather the popular support needed to get the Constitution ratified by the states. The Federalists reluctantly tacked on these amendments as a necessary assurance that the new, more powerful, federal government would not become as heavy-handed and oppressive as the British government. The 2nd Amendment was one of the most interesting of the bunch--both a promise that gun confiscation would not be permitted (the British had frequently done this) and a subtle (if unwritten) acknowledgment that the people would still have the power and means to resist and overthrow the new government should it become too oppressive. This subtle acknowledgment wouldn't last long beyond ratification, however. Once the Federalists got their new government, one of their first acts was to start imposing British-style taxes. And when the people of western Pennsylvania rebelled against the whiskey tax, the new government quickly suppressed their resistance in what was to become known as the Whiskey Rebellion (ironically the army that suppressed them was led by the father of Robert E. Lee, who would later help lead the most major U.S. rebellion to date).
Yeah, I've done a little reading on that subject and I agree with the GP. There is a wealthy oligarchy in the U.S. just as there is anywhere else. It's somewhat easier to break into this oligarchy today than it once was (with the rise of the bourgeoisie in the modern era, it became possible to join just with wealth--no noble birth or title required). But the basic principle remains throughout history--with the gold comes all the power.
And I, for one, welcome our new telecommunications overlords. I'd like to remind them that, as a long-time member of/., I can be valuable in helping them round up violators to slave in their fiber-optic tunnels.
Even among more primitive primates, you see this sort of behavior almost universally. An alpha male always rises to the top and becomes the "leader" of any group of primates. Eventually some other (younger) alpha male comes along and overthrows him. I don't see any reason to believe it was any different among early humans, especially since all the human primitive tribal groups we still have today (in places like Africa and the Amazon River area) still exhibit this exact same sort of tribal structure.
I'm just grateful this wasn't us for ONCE. Of course, now our redneck legislators will feel the need to one-up the Texans with some Bill declaring Jesus the official state mascot or something.
Screw that. Summer Glau and Jewel Staite were the breakout hotties on that show. Glau is even better now that she has gained a little weight and doesn't have the body of a 12-year-old anorexic boy.
The woman would just ignore the contract. My ex-wife (like so many wives) had a wonderfully self-serving memory. I could have gotten it in writing, had her sign it, and held it right in front of her face--and she still would have denied ever agreeing to it. They ALWAYS change after you marry them. David Letterman has been with Regina Lasko for 23 years together. They have a kid, and have lived together most of that time. And he finally married her last week. And I guarantee you, she has already begun to change from the woman he knew a week ago.
"The hokey spiritualism also irritated me, but it seems like said hokey spiritualism is now a prerequisite for most televised SF"
That's a counter-reaction to most of the Star Trek series, where human religion and spiritualism simply didn't exist (along with greed and a number of other foibles that made the humans in the Federation seem so wooden and inhuman). This started with DS9 (where Ron Moore cut his teeth) and continued with shows like Firefly and Galactica. The idea of a humanity without some form of spiritualism seems a little hard to swallow, for good or ill. It seems to be one of those things that's almost hard-wired into us.
The leaders of that revolt would end up just as corrupt as the politicians they overthrew. The self-interested politician always floats the the top in the end (like pond scum).
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I hypothesize that someone's suffering from jealousy.
Just ask Rick Astley. That guy was so dead a couple of years ago that even HE didn't remember he once had a career.
About 2 years ago, I tried out both Blockbuster's and Netflix's mail rental services at the same time. Blockbuster wasn't even CLOSE to Netflix. Blockbuster had a much weaker selection, they were slow as Christmas in receiving and shipping, and they treated their queue as more of a guideline than a rule (I would often get my 6th movie down, when the five above it were listed as "available"--and this was during the TRIAL period, before they even had any reason to throttle me). About the only thing Blockbuster had going for it was that "return it to the store, get a free store rental" thing. And even that wasn't enough for me (I still went with Netflix).
Now, two years later, Netflix has added streaming service which lets me stream movies over my Xbox for free. And Blockbuster has castrated their one "return it to the store" advantage. Why anyone who wasn't completely brain-dead would go for Blockbuster over the far-superior Netflix these days, I can't begin to imagine. In the mail/online rental world Blockbuster came to the game late, batted poorly when they got there, and then began spitting at their fans as they left the dugout. They're in the 9th inning and down by several runs and it doesn't look good for the once-mighty Blockbuster.
Doing an R-rated Batman is pointless. Batman as a character is a boring dipshit. It's not like he's suddenly going to turn morally ambiguous and start killing bad guys instead of tying them up like some lame-ass pansy. Show me a Batman where he starts using a gun, killing bad guys, and telling the cops to go fuck themselves if they don't like his methods (seriously, the Gotham cops are always portrayed as completely impotent idiots in the Batman universe--why does he keep showing these ass-clowns respect?). Now THAT would make for a good R-rated Batman film!
Lucky if you're a 12-year-old who thinks fart jokes are the just COOLEST THING IN THE WORLD. Not so lucky if you're an adult looking for movie fare a little more sophisticated that "LOOK AT HOW COOL OUR NEW FX SHOTS ARE!!!!"
Watchmen was the first superhero movie I've voluntarily watched since "Mystery Men" (which was pretty funny). I despise most comic book movies (unlike Watchmen, their source materials don't DESERVE to be called "graphic novels"). They're cookie-cutter, predictable, trite pieces of FX-driven shit. I had a girlfriend who forced me to watch the first Toby Macquire "Spiderman" movie and it made me almost physically ill. God, poor Willem Defoe and the indignities he had to endure in that turd (I think he actually shakes his fist in the air at one point and yells "I'll get you Spiderman!"). Sure, that kind of candy crap is fine for kids (and those with the maturity of kids), but I'm an ADULT. Watchmen was the first superhero movie in a long time that was actually geared toward me, and not just my 13-year-old nephew (who rates the quality of movies based solely on how many cool FX shots they contain and honestly doesn't see the "bad guy vanquished/good guy wins" ending of every Batman/Superman/X-men/Shitman movie coming long before the first frame even clicks).
The fact that so many supposed adults, when asked about the quality of Watchmen, responded with "OMG, they dared show a penis!!" shows how brain-dead and immature the average moviegoer really is. But for those of us who've matured beyond the mental age of a 14-year-old schoolgirl giggling at a Jonas Brothers video, it was a amazing anomaly--the first, and sadly probably last, adult superhero film.
Consumer protection laws in the (U.S. anyway) are a joke. And no law that I know of is going to FORCE an ISP to provide you with service. Most of these laws are designed to protect the consumer from fraud and deception, NOT to guarantee them service from a particular company. Again, you might get a refund, but no one is going to come in and tell AT&T "You have to have this guy as a customer." If you're aware of any law that would do this, please cite it.
As for education, the point still stands either way. You have no civil right to internet service either.
Constraining a director to a PG-13 rating means restricting their freedom beyond even those restrictions already imposed by the budget, time, etc. You can hedge it or slice it anyway you like, but it's still a straitjacket. Less freedom means less variety. Less variety forever limits the possibilities of the entire genre. This will have the practical effect of reestablishing the Hays Code for anyone wanting to do any sort of comic book adaption (and I say "comic book" here and not "graphic novel" quite intentially, because PG-13 means "comic book").
They don't need "proof." There is no law that says your cable or phone company *has* to provide you with internet service (it's not a property right like public education). They can cut you off at any time for any reason, and the most you could sue them for would be a breach of contract lawsuit which would get you at most a 1 month cash refund. That's why the RIAA/MPAA thugs like this approach so much. They no longer have to deal with messy lawsuits where someone might actually question their evidence and how it was obtained. They just go to your ISP, say "Cut this guy off, we think he's pirating" and BAM, you're off the internet for good!
"Find a competing service."
I'm not sure where YOU live, but in most parts of the U.S. there are only one or two ISP's available (for broadband, anyway). The only alternative most people have to their DSL provider (i.e. AT&T or similar) is one cable provider. And that cable provider is usually some big-name ISP (Time-Warner, Comcast, etc.) that's probably going to follow right on AT&T's heals in kowtowing to the RIAA/MPAA thugs.
For many, many years years I've acted like my shit don't stink. Now, I can finally back that statement up.
No, the practical reason for the 2nd Amendment was the same as the practical reason for the other 9 amendments it accompanied--to gather the popular support needed to get the Constitution ratified by the states. The Federalists reluctantly tacked on these amendments as a necessary assurance that the new, more powerful, federal government would not become as heavy-handed and oppressive as the British government. The 2nd Amendment was one of the most interesting of the bunch--both a promise that gun confiscation would not be permitted (the British had frequently done this) and a subtle (if unwritten) acknowledgment that the people would still have the power and means to resist and overthrow the new government should it become too oppressive. This subtle acknowledgment wouldn't last long beyond ratification, however. Once the Federalists got their new government, one of their first acts was to start imposing British-style taxes. And when the people of western Pennsylvania rebelled against the whiskey tax, the new government quickly suppressed their resistance in what was to become known as the Whiskey Rebellion (ironically the army that suppressed them was led by the father of Robert E. Lee, who would later help lead the most major U.S. rebellion to date).
Yeah, I've done a little reading on that subject and I agree with the GP. There is a wealthy oligarchy in the U.S. just as there is anywhere else. It's somewhat easier to break into this oligarchy today than it once was (with the rise of the bourgeoisie in the modern era, it became possible to join just with wealth--no noble birth or title required). But the basic principle remains throughout history--with the gold comes all the power.
And no recourse.
And I, for one, welcome our new telecommunications overlords. I'd like to remind them that, as a long-time member of /., I can be valuable in helping them round up violators to slave in their fiber-optic tunnels.
Even among more primitive primates, you see this sort of behavior almost universally. An alpha male always rises to the top and becomes the "leader" of any group of primates. Eventually some other (younger) alpha male comes along and overthrows him. I don't see any reason to believe it was any different among early humans, especially since all the human primitive tribal groups we still have today (in places like Africa and the Amazon River area) still exhibit this exact same sort of tribal structure.
I'm just grateful this wasn't us for ONCE. Of course, now our redneck legislators will feel the need to one-up the Texans with some Bill declaring Jesus the official state mascot or something.
The definition keeps changing. The most recent one I saw at my university included "I was drunk and regretted it in the morning."
"Candlejack" is a silly myth. It's just some bullsh
Screw that. Summer Glau and Jewel Staite were the breakout hotties on that show. Glau is even better now that she has gained a little weight and doesn't have the body of a 12-year-old anorexic boy.
The woman would just ignore the contract. My ex-wife (like so many wives) had a wonderfully self-serving memory. I could have gotten it in writing, had her sign it, and held it right in front of her face--and she still would have denied ever agreeing to it. They ALWAYS change after you marry them. David Letterman has been with Regina Lasko for 23 years together. They have a kid, and have lived together most of that time. And he finally married her last week. And I guarantee you, she has already begun to change from the woman he knew a week ago.
Upcoming /. headline: Apple game designers develop the first "no controls" game.
Good news for humans. Great news for dogs.
According to Battlestar Galactica, its those damn Japanese robots that should worry us. Leave the Roomba behind when you go.
"The hokey spiritualism also irritated me, but it seems like said hokey spiritualism is now a prerequisite for most televised SF"
That's a counter-reaction to most of the Star Trek series, where human religion and spiritualism simply didn't exist (along with greed and a number of other foibles that made the humans in the Federation seem so wooden and inhuman). This started with DS9 (where Ron Moore cut his teeth) and continued with shows like Firefly and Galactica. The idea of a humanity without some form of spiritualism seems a little hard to swallow, for good or ill. It seems to be one of those things that's almost hard-wired into us.
The leaders of that revolt would end up just as corrupt as the politicians they overthrew. The self-interested politician always floats the the top in the end (like pond scum).