People can refuse to buy the new technology -- someone will keep making the older tech.
The DVD makers could refuse to do region coding -- if the movie makers didn't put stuff on DVD, they'd lose money.
If the TV producers don't want to put coding on -- they have a captive audience. (pun intended) -- the Television makers don't EXIST without producers, etc, etc.
Look, people, the TV industry knows that people record shows - I don't tihnk anyone is going to set a TV show to "Record Never" or "Record Once" -- They're all aware that we tape the shows and watch them later -- they're all aware that because of that, the commercials get seen again. Its unrealistic to expect them to set all shows, or even ANY shows to "Record Never"
Its called Bad Marketing.
Movies, OTOH, I expect to be locked to Record Never. It means less piracy. Copyright protecting. That the people who own the movie can prevent you from stealing from them.
You want to watch the movie at a friends? Take it there, don't dub it. You want to watch it in the bedroom VCR - I'm sure the movie will have non-high-res play. Again, I don't expect the movie companinies to bite themselves in the ass by isolating an entire market. Not until analos TV has gone the way of the Beta VCR.
Think like executives people, not like paranoid conspiracy theorists. Sheesh.
Okay, I'm an average consumer (Okay, I'm NOT an average consumer, but I'm a consumer, with a credit card)
I get on Napster one day, and a popup window saying "Give us your credit card number, we'll charge you 15 dollars (or 3 dollars a month, or 5 cents a download, or WHAT-EVER) and this will all be legal. " (paraphrased for my convience)
Now, I've got a credit card, my wallet lives (when its not in my pocket) on my computer desk, (Eh, so my wallet is the case for my Palm Pilot, I'm SURE there are real non-geek people out there who toss their wallet on the computer desk too, but I digress) -- so I yank out Mr.Visa, and I give Napster the relativly minor amount of money they want.
And I download my little music-lovin heart out for another year.
Because I'm LAZY. I don't *WANT* to download gnutella. I don't WANT to learn yet another protocol. My time is valuable (Even if its spent playing Command and Conquer with my roommate).
Giving Napster 15 dollars (or 3, or 5 cents or whateveR) is MUCH simpler than downloading gnutella, installing gnutella, learning to USE gnutella, teaching my roommate to use gnutella, mpoving my mp3's, etc, etc.
But, at the moment -- with Napster NOT requiring it, and only asking us to pay for stuff from some weird Eurolabel? Eh. No, I'll pass. I'll spend my 15 dollars on something else. Its too much of a pain for something I might not want.
When its a sure thing -- it'll take off. Now? I don't think it will.
Yeah, its a neat idea, and perhaps it could pave the way for things like space elevators and the like, but, is it REALLY cost effective to build a tunnel of that size and scale and length -- in such a remote place?
I'd think that the cost of shipping things/people to Alaska and Russia to get them somewhere they wanted to go (Say... Moscow, or China, or whatnot) would outweigh the cost of airplanes or large ships.
This is a cool idea, but the locale doesn't have the traffic to support it.
You know, the internet, the 'virtual' communities -- they're not so very different from (dum-da-dum) The Real World.
The Big Blue Room, as my boyfriend calls it.
Everyone has a different opinion about it, there's always a bunch of pepople saying its 'in decline' or 'not like it was before' or 'I miss the good, old days".
And, probably, 20 years from now, we'll be doing the same thing. "This 3-d headset stuff is lame, I miss the good old days when you didn't have to SEE these people and noone could see you."
There are close knit, large scale (150-200 people) communities in existance on the internet. (Specifically in the case I'll be referencing, IRC, and webpages/messageboards) (Unless, of course, I'm in the only one that exists, in which case -- nyah, nyah, nyah. MINE! MINE! MINE!)
I'm in a comic fanfic community -- it started off rather small about 4 or 5 years ago (I got in 3 years ago, but I know my history), maybe.. 10 or 15 people who communicated regularly, and probably 10 to 15 more who lurked.
Now, 5 years later -- after 2 major webpages switches, the death of the mailing list, and birth or a new one, the death of the newsgroup, the death and rebirth of the IRC chatroom, countless feuds, break-ups, fiascos, arguements and whatnot -- we're pushing 200 active 'members' (There's no offical 'membership list') -- and probably at least twice that in lurkers. (By 'active' I mean writing, emailing, chatting, posting to messageboards, and generally making a nusicince of yourself)
We cover damn near the entire globe. All but one of the continents (But, DAMN, we're trying to find that Batman fan in Antarctica!), every state in the US, most of Canada, Australia, Japan, Finland, Isreal.
We've managed to produce two recurring major (Major for us being 40-50 people) conventions -- one in Toronto, one in California -- and COUNTLESS minor ones (10-15 people).
We're tight-knit -- as tight-knit as a high school class, which is about as tight-knit as 200 people can BE -- we've got cliques, we've got people who don't get along, we've had fights, fueds, relationships, breakups -- the whole she-bang. 95% of this entire mess is done online.
I don't think Katz, or the books he's referencing are looking hard enough -- or spending the time that it takes to get involved in a community.
Just like the real world, you can't just log onto a page, or pop into a chatroom and expect to be welcomed. It takes getting to know people, it takes social skills, it takes repeat visits. It doesn't happen in a day, or even a week -- and sometimes, it doesn't even happen in a MONTH.
Its just like, in many ways, the real world. -- You get out what you put in. -- You can't expect your co-workers to love and adore you if you never talk to them, or if you work at home and never show your face in the office. You can't expect people at a bar to know you if you only go in twice, or only go in once every 2-3 weeks. You often can't SEE a community unless you are already part of it.
And, its fairly obvious that Jon Katz isn't part of any community except this one -- and here, he's much like the weird theatre kid in high school -- sometimes brillant, sometimes talking out his ass - and ALWAYS not exactly on the same 'track' as everyone else.
The internet isn't any different from the real world, its just another OPTION.
This kind of thing as amazing potential for unmanned exploration of enviroments that humans can't go to (space, deep sea, arctic, volcanic, you get the idea)
Imagine an explorer probe that could add additional 'air bags' if it detected it would land on harsher terrain -- and then, after landing, remove those airbags and replace them with sheilding to protect it from a dust storm. Or from solar radation.
You can't put all those things on one probe because of limited space -- but a probe that could change its sheilds, or landing gear, or treads, or whathaveyou -- or hell, change its own damn batteries (Oh, for my son and daughter's toys to be able to do this!) -- this could make space exploration SO much easier and more reliable.
Just exactly what does the "Virtual Community" that Katz is speaking consist of?
If he means a group of people who talk, discuss, etc - that's all over the place.
If he means a group of people who form bonds outside the discussion groups, or outside the topic/interest that join then - that ALSO happens all over the place - otherwise we would not have ever had a rash of 'internet romances'
If he means a group of people who get together to meet in person because of a internet discussion group - Gee, that ALSO happens -- Conventions spring up EVERYWHERE.
What do you guys think he means by "Virtual Community"?
I was on the early BBS's -- I've been online since I was 13.
I didn't find a hostile, all-flames-all-the-time envoriment.
I found intelligent conversations, a lot of stupid jokes, people who were
willing to explain the nicities of the online world to a naive kid, I found
a local group to do RPG with -- I found people who held picnics and actually
made connections with each other in the real world because of their online
connections.
Yes, we had a few flamers -- and our share of soap opera relationships. But
who DOESN'T as a teenager? There's always a jerk, always a couple who breaks
up every 15 minutes only to be found snogging on the couch between breakups.
The BBS's collapsed in my area due to the Sysops getting jobs or going to
college. And due to the ride of -- dum-da-dum -- the Internet.
Now that I'm an adult - and on the 'net -- I've found that its much the
same. I'm in a community of people who share not a local geography, but a
common interest.
We have a multitue of mailing lists, half a dozen message boards, all linked
to a hub page -- we have our own IRC room - -hell, we have half a damn dozen
IRC rooms for various purposes.
And at least once a year we all meet and sit around a pub and talk and drink
and eat. Just because.
We've got several strong relationships -- numerous friendships, and we're
damned tight-knit.
(I myself have a relationship with someone I met from the community. Who is
probably gonna read this and be vaguely amused.)
Perhaps we're abnormal -- but I can't imagine that being the case. Not with
a metric assload of people on the 'net -- not with howevermany gazillions of
interest groups. We CAN'T be the only one.
Communities on the 'net are alive and well -- Katz just isn't invited to
any.
Poor little no puppy toe!
Anyone who says this movie 'sucked' is a MORON.
on
Review: "Unbreakable"
·
· Score: 1
Look, I like actions flicks as much as the rest of you. And, no, Unbreakable is *not* an action flick.
Anyone who paid ATTENTION to the trailers and previews and website could have guessed that. HELL-O. DUH. Same director as Sixth Sense.
What it was, was a intelligent movie.
I've been reading comics for... well, as long as I've been reading, on and off. Read all the old Superman, Captain MArvel, Shadow, etc, etc comics of my dad's.
This movie wasn't just about David, or Elijah. It was about the myth of the superhero.
I've got.. maybe a 10 minute attention span on a good day -- and I found myself looking at my watch exactly once -- and that was just after David beat up the guy in the orange jumpsuit -- Not because I was bored, but, because I wanted to see how much more movie was left -- to see if this was the end, or if we were getting more story.
Did none of you notice the use of color? Green/orange/purple? (David/guy in jumpsuit/Elijah)
David not realizing that he has special isn't so hard to accept -- How many of you THINK About how much you are sick? -- And how many of you push yourself beyond the limits you believe you have?
No, this wasn't a blowing-stuff-up, car chase, glactic ka-blooey movie. --
I saw Unbreakable 2 weeks ago, the night it opened. -- And I've been discussing it on and off with friends who also saw it since.
After having an arguement with my roommate, and a lengthy discussiion online with a few non-US-residents, I did the research on the electoral college.
First off, I don't completly agree with the electoral college. It has flaws. However, the pervcieved flaws aren't the major problem.
Percieved Flaw 1:
The electoral voters can vote any way they want, even if the state's popular vote differs.
Factual Truth 1:
In 24 states, the electoral college is required to vote for whichever candidate wins that state's popular vote.
Only 1% of electoral votes, ever, TOTAL, in the history of the United States have gone against the state's popular vote.
Percieved Flaw 2:
The electoral college was designed to take the elections away from the people.
Factual Truth 2:
The electoral college was voted in place for two reasons. The first being that when the Founding Fathers started the country, there were many people living in extremly rural areas with extremly limited mail services, if any at all. The Electoral college allowed for timely votes from those areas. (Which is why the electoral vote is held in Janurary). The second reason is because in the last 1700's, we did not have a better plan. (Most of the people supporting the electoral system were only supporting it because they did NOT support a system where Congress and The House of Represatives votes the President into office). Politics at work, even in the early days of the country.
Percieved Flaw 3:
The entirety of a state's electoral votes go to one candidate, even if the margin of popular vote is very small.
Factual Truth 3:
Okay, you guys have this one plugged. Only two states, Maine and Nebraska allow for a split electoral vote. The other 48 states, and the District of Columbia (Washington D.C.) require that all the votes go to the candidate that took the popular vote, regardless of the margin of the win.
Emailed responses, proposals and bank account numbers can be sent to Frito_KAL@yahoo.com
Flames, however, can go straight to dev/null. Or Washington DC. Whichever pit of nothingness you guys prefer.
Gave into temptation and responded to this post. I really shouldn't respond to this particular post.
Anyway, Amtrak is, yes, highly lovely. My work stuffs me on the train to Penn Station in New York every Monday, and back home again to DC every Friday, for the next 3 weeks at least.
Seats are comfy enough that I can sleep on the way up, which is fantastic. I can actually reach the foot rests on the Metroliner cars (I'm 5-0 barefoot)
And, best of all, there are 120v plugs at every seat. Which means, as long as your seatmate isn't already on his or her laptop, WOO! Three hours of Alpha Centauri, Nethack, Roller Coaster Tycoon, or whatever other mindless game you want to waste your time on for the duration of the trip.
The dining cars, btw, have Trainphones, which I believe you could plug a laptop into if you wanted. Expensive but, hey, its a connection, right? A cell modem would work just as well, or a modem-to-cell adapter.
Either way, trains are SO much nicer than planes. Room to strech out, better food, and no need for batteries. Oh, and no stupid "Turn the laptop/phone/whatever off!" rule!
I dont' think VUI's are going to be feasible until they are intelligent enough to understand a wide range of accents, including the accents of, for example, non-native English speakers, who are now speaking English, and when they are intelligent enough to understand the difference between slash-dot and/. as an example.
When it can determine "Open Internet Explorer, go to www.slashdot.org, scroll down half way" or "Scroll down to the poll" or whatever -- THEN it will achieve wide-spread use. Not until then.
Well, first some background. Been reading X-men and related X-comics, and all things Marvel for quite a while now. I'm a huge, massive fan. I own shirts and trinkets and just *stuff*. I go to cons. I know which character I most resemble (For the record, Kitty Pryde) -- I write fan fiction, I watch the cartoon, and I follow newsgroups, wed pages and mailing lists avidly.
I am a comics geek.
So, the arrival of the X-Men movie left me with some apprension. Marvel hasn't really managed to do a decent comic-to-movie translation.
I was aware that, they were NEVER going to get 35 years of comics into 2 hours of movie. It just isn't possible, so I steeled myself for that.
I was still impressed, and pleased. I loved this. I've seen it twice. (Once opening night, once 2 days later, and seeing it again today) I'll buy the DVD. I'll buy the soundtrack. I'll buy the toys and the shirts and all the stuff. The movie was GOOD. No bones (admanatium or otherwise) about it.
And so, on with my review of the review.
Ok, Well, Rob liked it, so I can't bitch too much about his comments. Hell, on re-reading it, I can't bitch at all. My onle response to anything is the following
***Quote*** I was kinda sad that Mystique was essentially reduced to a covert-ops sort of character instead of a bad-ass. I'm not sure if her lack of lines was intentional, or if perhaps they ended up on the cutting-room floor because Rebecca Romain-Stamos can't act. Maybe [director Bryan] Singer just wanted her silent and cold, but I'd always thought of her as more of a leader than she ended up being portrayed here. ***ENDQuote***
I suspect this was done more to keep her (and the rest of the mutie lackey crew) from overshadowing Magneto. Mags wasn't supposed to be Evil, as much as he was Misguided (And, maybe not even that, but I digress) -- His henchmen aren't supposed to be stars. Or leaders.
Okay, onto JonKatz's comments. Woo. I have a lot to say here. This is gonna get long.
***Quote*** His biggest problem was that Stewart and McKellen's acting almost totally overwhelm the movie. You had to feel sorry for Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), James Marsden (Cyclops), Halle Berry (Storm) Anna Paquin (Rogue), Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (Mystique) and the others who seemed to literally shrink in the company of Stewart and McKellen. ***End Quote***
Um, were we watching the same movie? The X-men one, right? Good. Thought so.
Okay, well, while yes, McKellen and Stewart were great actors, intense guys, gave a wonderful performance -- the focus of the movie was NOT on them. Hell, Xaiver was taken out of the action for the entire end scene.
Magneto is the Big Bad Guy. He was supposed to have the spotlight. And did. And did an excellent job. The point is, he WAS supposed to outshine his lackeys. They are not the focus, despite nifty blue or yellow skin. Despite amazing powers. Despite nakedness, feralness or badassness. Magneto is the focus.
As for Xaiver, I'm sorry, he was a backround player. Yes, Stewart was rather intense, but, he was by no means outshining Jackman (Wolverine) - Perhaps, yes, he did make his prescence known with the rest of the X-men, but again, he's supposed to. The scenes that involved him, he was the focus. He was speaking, giving the audience information.
***Quote*** It's easy to see why some geeks and many outcasts have always loved the X-Men a sentiment very much reflected in the movie. It's easy to resonate with a film that has a U.S. Senator pushing for the public listing of all "mutants" and seeking to remove them from the public school system of America because they might conceivably be dangerous. The very same thing, of course, is happening to "geeks, Goths and freaks" all over the United States today, post-Columbine. ***END QUOTE*
What are you, a Perl script?
Jesus on a pogo stick, can you go an entire article, can you go 100 printed words without mentioning Columbine? I agreed with you to some degree and even I'm sick of it. This movie has nothing to do with geeks or our so-called social problems.
Yeah, yeah, you protest "Mutants are outcasts, just like geeks." Woo. So are gays, blacks, jews, women, the disbled, etc, etc, etc, etc, so on, so forth, yadda, yadda.
Yes, there's a theme of acceptance, understanding and destroying prejudice. Its a nice theme. A happy theme.
Know what? Very few people give a flying whoosis about it. We like the characters. We like the stories. The theme is bloody secondary.
***Quote*** Until the very end of the movie, which is a somewhat hokey confrontation at the Statue of Liberty, they never really seem to jell as a team. ***End Quote***
HOKEY???? HOKEY? Puh-lease. What would you have had them do? Sit down with Magneto and offer him tea?
That confrontation was beautifully filmed. It showed the X-men AND the BoM (Brotherhood of Mutants, I'm not typing it out long again)'s powers, it gave Jean and Storm a chance to be strong women, it had a really pretty fight scene with Wolvering and Mystique, the effects were flawless, the martial arts were well done, and the setting made sense.
As for team dymanics -- Did you miss Storm and Cyclops rescuing Rogue and Wolverine? Were you getting soda or taking a poo at the time? Did you forget that Cyclops and Wolverine Do Not Get Along? You don't see them as a 'team' until the fight, and, frankly, you didn't need to. They acted as a team in the statue just fine, even cooperating to get Scott's visor back to him, regardless of the fact that Wolverine does not like Scott and vice versa.
***Quote*** We're supposed to hate Magento, but there isn't anything particularly hateful about him. ***End Quote***
No, we are NOT. We're supposed to see that he's NOT hateful. That he's wrong, but not Evil. That he's tragic. Like MacBeth, or Hamlet. Or like your precious Columbine geeks.
Right idea, WRONG implementation.
***Quote*** The movie has too little humor. Apart from a couple of lame jokes cracked by Wolverine, it wouldn't have any. *** End Quote***
Ah, you must have been out for a poo during the following scenes: (I don't gaurantee accuracy. I'm a fan, not a critic or tape recorder)
Xaiver (speaking to Cyclops, referring to Wolverine) - "You don't like him, do you?"
Cyclops - "No, how could you tell?"
Xaiver = "Well, I am psychic, you know."
and
Wolverine (in his spiffy black leather X-men uniform) - "You actually go outside in these?"
Cyclops - "Would you prefer yellow spandex?"
-- You know, Katz, you really gotta get ahold of that problem with your bowels. Going out for a poo so many times in the movie is really ruining your experience of it. I recommend a steady diet of cheese and whole milk.
Okay, enough of ripping poor Jon to shreds. On with the next review.
***Quote*** Minor characters apparently had to beg for lines -- the three evil henchmen have a grand total of perhaps three lines between them, two for Toad (wisecracks), one for Mystique (supermodels should be seen but not heard) and zero for Large Grunting Guy ***Endquote***
They're HENCHMEN. THey're not supposed to be talkative. And, given that Mystique talked as Gyrich, and Drake, and Kelly, I'd say she had quote a few lines. The actress didn't. The character did. Toad had more than two lines, but, yes all were wisecracks. Again, he's a henchman. You want Shakespere? Large Grunting Guy (Sabretooth. And his name was given at least twice. Pay attention please) - Had several lines. (What, were you people all pooing? Lord, you gotta take care of that) -- "Scream for me" and "You owe me a scream" -- which, I might add, are dead-on-perfect for the character. Also, he's a BIG scary feral guy. He's not supposed to talk, he's supposed to just, growl a lot and bite people. Duh.
***Quote*** Somewhere in there was probably an explanation of why Cyclops can't open his eyes without huge bursts of ravening energy pouring from them, but we didn't get to see it. ***End Quote***
Quick thought. The guy is a mutant. Xaiver SAID some of them can't control their powers. Isn't that about all the explanation you need? Do we NEED a 5 minute discussion on the man's eyes? Not really. We got the idea at the train staion. Exposition wasn't needed, warrented or wanted. It was all there, you just needed to THINK a little.
***Quote*** And of course I could stare at Rogue all day, she's easy on the eyes, if you know what I mean. ***End Quote***
She's also SIXTEEN. Good grief. Stare at the nude blue chick, or the hot redhead, or the regal black lady with the white hair. But not the kid. Sheesh.
***Quote***But I didn't come away from the film feeling enlightened or even really entertained. ***End Quote***
Funny. The two audiences I saw it with, and my friends, and THEIR audiences were clapping, cheering, and obviously entertained. You gotta get ahold of those bowel problems. You guys are missing all the good parts of the movies.
***QUOTE*** The good news for the people who liked it is that you can expect lots more -- about 10 minutes of those 90 were devoted to setting up a sequel ***End Quote***
And this is different from any other movie, because??? Yeah, yeah, they setup a sequal. They worked it into the script well, they tied it into the characters well, and they tied it into the previously existing character histories as well, nice tidbit for us fans.
---
*pant pant pant* Longest post I think I've ever written.
Kudos to a friend of mine, Redhawk, for the comment about Katz being a Perl script. I lifted that right from him saying it today (And if he got it from someone else, well, I'm not aware of it, so, tough)
I've been watching the trailers and the articles and all that for... well.. as long as they've been out. From what I can tell, while its not completly absolutly accurate, the protrayels of the characters are true to the book, as much as a 2 hour movie can make then. One of my biggest 'issues' was Wolverine, but, the actor seems to be doing a rather good job, including tossing on some ad-libbed 'bub's. They even managed to get the trademark Wolverine hair, well, as close as it can be gotten without looking REALLY stupid. -Frito -Also a fanfic writer, avid X-fan and all around comics geek.
Okay, give a few details before I go off on my little exposition here --
The people I'll be referring to all have some degree of computer knowledge -- from "User" to "Programmer" to "Network Admin' level - it varies from person to person.
Their musical tastes also wildly vary. From country to pop to rock, to metal, to classical.
--
Just about everyone I know, uses Napster/Gnutella/whatever. Both my roommates, most of my friends, my boyfriend, and a handful of relatives and myself. We've all got oodles and oodles of mp3's. Lots of 'em.
We also have an immense amount of CD's. Not burnt copies, but the normal kind. The kind you go buy in the store. With the liner notes and the lyrics and all that.
Some of the Mp3's and CD's overlap.
Why, you ask, do we buy CD's we have on mp3? Because, frankly, it's a pain in the ass to burn a CD when you're the average computer owner. Oh, its possible, and we all do it, but, its annoying and ties up the computer. When you don't have a truly sick amount of Ram, when you don't have a massivly fast CPU, when you're the average Joe, who uses his computer for the 'net, for games, and for balancing his checkbook, you don't waste time/speed/performance by burning music CD's.
It takes a lot more effort to burn a CD than it does to buy one. Even at 18.99, 19.99, 23.99, its much faster to pop off into the music store, pick up a CD, and go home. Espically when you have a car CD player. We generally have mp3's for home, and CD's for the car. They live in the car. Some of them have never seen the inside of our homes.
Its all about convieniace. We hear a song on the radio a few times, we think "Gee, that's a band I like... hey, the *insert store name here* is on the way home, I'll stop by" -- We hit the ATM, we hit the store. 15 minutes later, We have music. Also, as a side note -- very often, the mp3's we have are obscure, hard to find, or older music. Stuff that would be difficult to find at the local music store.
In my, and apparantly the opinions of my friends and people I know, mp3's aren't stopping us from buying music, they're just another way of having it. Cd's are still easy to get, easy to use. Burnt copies are a pain. They require *GASP!* effort. Effort better used on playing Quake, Rainbow 6, Roller Coaster Tycoon or SMAC. Effort better spent on chatting, writing, working. Effort better spent on doing stuff, instead of sitting around waiting for a CD to finish burning, hoping it won't be a botched burn.
You know, its really quite disturbing to watch the endless amounts of whining about Jon Katz
None of your typed whining and bitching and moaning is going to stop you from having to see the articles. If you don't like them, for god's sake, don't read them. You all aren't small children who are forced to eat your vegetables, you are adults supposedly and you are all supposed to be mature enough to NOT read something you don't like. If you don't agree with him, stop bitching and moaning about it, and just shut the fuck up, and don't read the articles. For my own opinion, its high time someone DID say something about how 'geeks' are treated. Self-promoting or not, arrogant or not, Katz has a point, and if you all could grow up and stop whining about it, you might be able to see his point. This book in published form means that I can drop a copy on my mother's desk in her classroom, and, there's a small chance that she'll finally see that those quiet kids are really getting harassed and don't deserve it. This book means that, hopefully, some skinny nerd will get listened to by a principal, and it means that somewhere, some computer geek might have a plesant time in school, where he might not have previously. Maybe you all need to remember something you hopefully were taught as kids. If you can't say something nice, don't say it at all Acting like immature children changes nothing. Being intelligent and mature does
I can't see programmed RPing replacing, or even coming close to replacing tabletop paper-pen and dice.
You don't get the charcter interaction, development, or socialization.
God forbid us geeks have socialization...
This might end up being a good character and adventure generation tool, but I don't see it gaining massive populatiry among serious gamers. Those of us who RP as a hobby, I've noted, like developing personalities into our characters.
I think a great deal of the lack of a total switch from paper to digital is sheer portability. The laptop computer is all well and good. I love them. However, they are still somewhat bulkier than a newspaper or magazine. They still attract attemtion as a 'unusual' item, are expensive, prone to theft, and require batteries, power supply's and carrying satchels. A newspaper is not only portable - but disposable. A novel - fits in my jacket pocket. A radio - change the batteries twice a month at the most. And, I believe, even as laptops and desktops merge, and become easier to use and carry, we will still retain our love of paper, just as we still go to the theatre, listen to the radio, and go outside and play baseball sometimes. There are other factors involved in entertainment and information than what hits our eyes, tickles our ears, and feeds our brains. (You know, I like that line. I think I shall quote it in a sig file today) -- We go to the movies for the group big-screen expierence. For the popcorn and the soda and the sticky floors. We read books for the feel of the paper under our fingers, for the sound of rustling pages, and for the smell of a new book (If you don't know what I mean, go to the bookstore, purchase a book, ANY book, open it stick your nose in, and take a deep breath. Its GREAT) Its not 'middle media' or 'old media' or 'new media'. Its what we DO as humans. We add to our choices of entertainment. Rock music didn't eliminate classical music. Movies didn't eliminate plays. TV didn't eliminate theatre. The internet won't eliminate books, newspaper or television either.
Aw, now you made me break out the HTML. DAMMIT! I wanted to be lazy!
Are you suggesting that the number of people saying or doing something imply whether it is more or less right?
Nope. I'm saying that Katz should have at LEAST responded to the allegations that he was wrong, just like you are doing to me, and I am doing to you.
The solution is not for one or more people to shut up. Far from it. The solution is education. Each individual must learn to tolerate and respect the views of other no matter how stringly they disagree. Only then might they begin to believe that they may be afforded the same in return.
Tolerate, respect - yes.
Welcome into my private space where I can relax and enjoy the company of people who share my views on things? NO!
I'm not talking about excluding people whose views differ mine. I'm talking about excluding people who REFUSE to learn the rules. People who refuse to type properly (a specific rule in the commuinty I'm in). People who flame, use allcaps, or just plain act like ignormamsus without any want or desire to change.
The people I want gone are the people who, instead of reasonably discussing the views that don't like, just post hot grits and Natalie Portman posts. The VERY problem you are talking about.
A communist who thinks that capaltisism is bad who is willing to talk about it, I can deal with.
A capaltist who spraypaints "Die COMMIE!" on the wall of the Kremlin I can't.
I've been rather faithfully reading all of his "Virtual Community' articles - and I'm getting the distinct impression that Katz isn't even READING the comments.
There've been HOW many comments saying he's wrong? And how many were actually written intelligently and with proofs to backup what the were saying?
I wouldnt' change the 'virtual' community at all. Its FINE how it is. They exist, they're hard to find - AND WE LIKE IT THAT WAY!
Sheesh. Noone wants half a billion teenagers invading their personal space. Things start to suck when they get crowded.
This is WHY slashdot has to use moderation. ITs WHY we've got Natalie Portman-hot grits-naked AND fearless troll posts.
Its why the BBS's went down. Its why Usenet sucks sour frog ass. Its why Aol and Compuserve and Prodigy and webTV have caused the downfall of many, many intelligent forums.
So... actually, I WOULD change something - I'd make the virtual communities even HARDER to find. I don't like crowds, I don't like morons.
And if it means Katz is more convinced we don't exist -- GOOD. I'm more and more inclined to think he's jus a Perl Script anyway.
Frito - Grouch, elitist, capitalist. And damn proud of it.
Slashdot Mirror
People can refuse to buy the new technology -- someone will keep making the older tech.
The DVD makers could refuse to do region coding -- if the movie makers didn't put stuff on DVD, they'd lose money.
If the TV producers don't want to put coding on -- they have a captive audience. (pun intended) -- the Television makers don't EXIST without producers, etc, etc.
Poor little no puppy toe!
(Dammit. Subject line is TOO short!)
Look, people, the TV industry knows that people record shows - I don't tihnk anyone is going to set a TV show to "Record Never" or "Record Once" -- They're all aware that we tape the shows and watch them later -- they're all aware that because of that, the commercials get seen again. Its unrealistic to expect them to set all shows, or even ANY shows to "Record Never"
Its called Bad Marketing.
Movies, OTOH, I expect to be locked to Record Never. It means less piracy. Copyright protecting. That the people who own the movie can prevent you from stealing from them.
You want to watch the movie at a friends? Take it there, don't dub it. You want to watch it in the bedroom VCR - I'm sure the movie will have non-high-res play. Again, I don't expect the movie companinies to bite themselves in the ass by isolating an entire market. Not until analos TV has gone the way of the Beta VCR.
Think like executives people, not like paranoid conspiracy theorists. Sheesh.
Poor little no puppy toe!
People would assume from that article that Sadam could take a Gameboy, put the right cartridge in it and fly to the moon
I just.. don't see ANYONE on here being quite THAT stupid.
(although, it would make for a nifty short story or comic book)
Poor little no puppy toe!
Okay, I'm an average consumer (Okay, I'm NOT an average consumer, but I'm a consumer, with a credit card)
I get on Napster one day, and a popup window saying "Give us your credit card number, we'll charge you 15 dollars (or 3 dollars a month, or 5 cents a download, or WHAT-EVER) and this will all be legal. " (paraphrased for my convience)
Now, I've got a credit card, my wallet lives (when its not in my pocket) on my computer desk, (Eh, so my wallet is the case for my Palm Pilot, I'm SURE there are real non-geek people out there who toss their wallet on the computer desk too, but I digress) -- so I yank out Mr.Visa, and I give Napster the relativly minor amount of money they want.
And I download my little music-lovin heart out for another year.
Because I'm LAZY. I don't *WANT* to download gnutella. I don't WANT to learn yet another protocol. My time is valuable (Even if its spent playing Command and Conquer with my roommate).
Giving Napster 15 dollars (or 3, or 5 cents or whateveR) is MUCH simpler than downloading gnutella, installing gnutella, learning to USE gnutella, teaching my roommate to use gnutella, mpoving my mp3's, etc, etc.
But, at the moment -- with Napster NOT requiring it, and only asking us to pay for stuff from some weird Eurolabel? Eh. No, I'll pass. I'll spend my 15 dollars on something else. Its too much of a pain for something I might not want.
When its a sure thing -- it'll take off. Now? I don't think it will.
Poor little no puppy toe!
Yeah, its a neat idea, and perhaps it could pave the way for things like space elevators and the like, but, is it REALLY cost effective to build a tunnel of that size and scale and length -- in such a remote place?
I'd think that the cost of shipping things/people to Alaska and Russia to get them somewhere they wanted to go (Say... Moscow, or China, or whatnot) would outweigh the cost of airplanes or large ships.
This is a cool idea, but the locale doesn't have the traffic to support it.
Poor little no puppy toe!
You know, the internet, the 'virtual' communities -- they're not so very different from (dum-da-dum) The Real World.
The Big Blue Room, as my boyfriend calls it.
Everyone has a different opinion about it, there's always a bunch of pepople saying its 'in decline' or 'not like it was before' or 'I miss the good, old days".
And, probably, 20 years from now, we'll be doing the same thing. "This 3-d headset stuff is lame, I miss the good old days when you didn't have to SEE these people and noone could see you."
There are close knit, large scale (150-200 people) communities in existance on the internet. (Specifically in the case I'll be referencing, IRC, and webpages/messageboards) (Unless, of course, I'm in the only one that exists, in which case -- nyah, nyah, nyah. MINE! MINE! MINE!)
I'm in a comic fanfic community -- it started off rather small about 4 or 5 years ago (I got in 3 years ago, but I know my history), maybe.. 10 or 15 people who communicated regularly, and probably 10 to 15 more who lurked.
Now, 5 years later -- after 2 major webpages switches, the death of the mailing list, and birth or a new one, the death of the newsgroup, the death and rebirth of the IRC chatroom, countless feuds, break-ups, fiascos, arguements and whatnot -- we're pushing 200 active 'members' (There's no offical 'membership list') -- and probably at least twice that in lurkers. (By 'active' I mean writing, emailing, chatting, posting to messageboards, and generally making a nusicince of yourself)
We cover damn near the entire globe. All but one of the continents (But, DAMN, we're trying to find that Batman fan in Antarctica!), every state in the US, most of Canada, Australia, Japan, Finland, Isreal.
We've managed to produce two recurring major (Major for us being 40-50 people) conventions -- one in Toronto, one in California -- and COUNTLESS minor ones (10-15 people).
We're tight-knit -- as tight-knit as a high school class, which is about as tight-knit as 200 people can BE -- we've got cliques, we've got people who don't get along, we've had fights, fueds, relationships, breakups -- the whole she-bang. 95% of this entire mess is done online.
I don't think Katz, or the books he's referencing are looking hard enough -- or spending the time that it takes to get involved in a community.
Just like the real world, you can't just log onto a page, or pop into a chatroom and expect to be welcomed. It takes getting to know people, it takes social skills, it takes repeat visits. It doesn't happen in a day, or even a week -- and sometimes, it doesn't even happen in a MONTH.
Its just like, in many ways, the real world. -- You get out what you put in. -- You can't expect your co-workers to love and adore you if you never talk to them, or if you work at home and never show your face in the office. You can't expect people at a bar to know you if you only go in twice, or only go in once every 2-3 weeks. You often can't SEE a community unless you are already part of it.
And, its fairly obvious that Jon Katz isn't part of any community except this one -- and here, he's much like the weird theatre kid in high school -- sometimes brillant, sometimes talking out his ass - and ALWAYS not exactly on the same 'track' as everyone else.
The internet isn't any different from the real world, its just another OPTION.
Poor little no puppy toe!
This kind of thing as amazing potential for unmanned exploration of enviroments that humans can't go to (space, deep sea, arctic, volcanic, you get the idea) Imagine an explorer probe that could add additional 'air bags' if it detected it would land on harsher terrain -- and then, after landing, remove those airbags and replace them with sheilding to protect it from a dust storm. Or from solar radation. You can't put all those things on one probe because of limited space -- but a probe that could change its sheilds, or landing gear, or treads, or whathaveyou -- or hell, change its own damn batteries (Oh, for my son and daughter's toys to be able to do this!) -- this could make space exploration SO much easier and more reliable.
Poor little no puppy toe!
Well, on a brighter note -- at least it shows that, unlike the COUNTLESS reports and studies -- kids still trust adults.
Even if they don't have reason to sometimes.
Poor little no puppy toe!
Just exactly what does the "Virtual Community" that Katz is speaking consist of?
If he means a group of people who talk, discuss, etc - that's all over the place.
If he means a group of people who form bonds outside the discussion groups, or outside the topic/interest that join then - that ALSO happens all over the place - otherwise we would not have ever had a rash of 'internet romances'
If he means a group of people who get together to meet in person because of a internet discussion group - Gee, that ALSO happens -- Conventions spring up EVERYWHERE.
What do you guys think he means by "Virtual Community"?
Poor little no puppy toe!
Okay, I'm a mite big confused.
I was on the early BBS's -- I've been online since I was 13.
I didn't find a hostile, all-flames-all-the-time envoriment.
I found intelligent conversations, a lot of stupid jokes, people who were
willing to explain the nicities of the online world to a naive kid, I found
a local group to do RPG with -- I found people who held picnics and actually
made connections with each other in the real world because of their online
connections.
Yes, we had a few flamers -- and our share of soap opera relationships. But
who DOESN'T as a teenager? There's always a jerk, always a couple who breaks
up every 15 minutes only to be found snogging on the couch between breakups.
The BBS's collapsed in my area due to the Sysops getting jobs or going to
college. And due to the ride of -- dum-da-dum -- the Internet.
Now that I'm an adult - and on the 'net -- I've found that its much the
same. I'm in a community of people who share not a local geography, but a
common interest.
We have a multitue of mailing lists, half a dozen message boards, all linked
to a hub page -- we have our own IRC room - -hell, we have half a damn dozen
IRC rooms for various purposes.
And at least once a year we all meet and sit around a pub and talk and drink
and eat. Just because.
We've got several strong relationships -- numerous friendships, and we're
damned tight-knit.
(I myself have a relationship with someone I met from the community. Who is
probably gonna read this and be vaguely amused.)
Perhaps we're abnormal -- but I can't imagine that being the case. Not with
a metric assload of people on the 'net -- not with howevermany gazillions of
interest groups. We CAN'T be the only one.
Communities on the 'net are alive and well -- Katz just isn't invited to
any.
Poor little no puppy toe!
Look, I like actions flicks as much as the rest of you. And, no, Unbreakable is *not* an action flick.
.. maybe a 10 minute attention span on a good day -- and I found myself looking at my watch exactly once -- and that was just after David beat up the guy in the orange jumpsuit -- Not because I was bored, but, because I wanted to see how much more movie was left -- to see if this was the end, or if we were getting more story.
Anyone who paid ATTENTION to the trailers and previews and website could have guessed that. HELL-O. DUH. Same director as Sixth Sense.
What it was, was a intelligent movie.
I've been reading comics for... well, as long as I've been reading, on and off. Read all the old Superman, Captain MArvel, Shadow, etc, etc comics of my dad's.
This movie wasn't just about David, or Elijah. It was about the myth of the superhero.
I've got
Did none of you notice the use of color? Green/orange/purple? (David/guy in jumpsuit/Elijah)
David not realizing that he has special isn't so hard to accept -- How many of you THINK About how much you are sick? -- And how many of you push yourself beyond the limits you believe you have?
No, this wasn't a blowing-stuff-up, car chase, glactic ka-blooey movie. --
I saw Unbreakable 2 weeks ago, the night it opened. -- And I've been discussing it on and off with friends who also saw it since.
Frito
After having an arguement with my roommate, and a lengthy discussiion online with a few non-US-residents, I did the research on the electoral college.
First off, I don't completly agree with the electoral college. It has flaws. However, the pervcieved flaws aren't the major problem.
Percieved Flaw 1:
The electoral voters can vote any way they want, even if the state's popular vote differs.
Factual Truth 1:
In 24 states, the electoral college is required to vote for whichever candidate wins that state's popular vote.
Only 1% of electoral votes, ever, TOTAL, in the history of the United States have gone against the state's popular vote.
Percieved Flaw 2:
The electoral college was designed to take the elections away from the people.
Factual Truth 2:
The electoral college was voted in place for two reasons. The first being that when the Founding Fathers started the country, there were many people living in extremly rural areas with extremly limited mail services, if any at all. The Electoral college allowed for timely votes from those areas. (Which is why the electoral vote is held in Janurary). The second reason is because in the last 1700's, we did not have a better plan. (Most of the people supporting the electoral system were only supporting it because they did NOT support a system where Congress and The House of Represatives votes the President into office). Politics at work, even in the early days of the country.
Percieved Flaw 3:
The entirety of a state's electoral votes go to one candidate, even if the margin of popular vote is very small.
Factual Truth 3:
Okay, you guys have this one plugged. Only two states, Maine and Nebraska allow for a split electoral vote. The other 48 states, and the District of Columbia (Washington D.C.) require that all the votes go to the candidate that took the popular vote, regardless of the margin of the win.
Emailed responses, proposals and bank account numbers can be sent to Frito_KAL@yahoo.com
Flames, however, can go straight to dev/null. Or Washington DC. Whichever pit of nothingness you guys prefer.
Gave into temptation and responded to this post. I really shouldn't respond to this particular post.
Anyway, Amtrak is, yes, highly lovely. My work stuffs me on the train to Penn Station in New York every Monday, and back home again to DC every Friday, for the next 3 weeks at least.
Seats are comfy enough that I can sleep on the way up, which is fantastic. I can actually reach the foot rests on the Metroliner cars (I'm 5-0 barefoot)
And, best of all, there are 120v plugs at every seat. Which means, as long as your seatmate isn't already on his or her laptop, WOO! Three hours of Alpha Centauri, Nethack, Roller Coaster Tycoon, or whatever other mindless game you want to waste your time on for the duration of the trip.
The dining cars, btw, have Trainphones, which I believe you could plug a laptop into if you wanted. Expensive but, hey, its a connection, right? A cell modem would work just as well, or a modem-to-cell adapter.
Either way, trains are SO much nicer than planes. Room to strech out, better food, and no need for batteries. Oh, and no stupid "Turn the laptop/phone/whatever off!" rule!
I dont' think VUI's are going to be feasible until they are intelligent enough to understand a wide range of accents, including the accents of, for example, non-native English speakers, who are now speaking English, and when they are intelligent enough to understand the difference between slash-dot and /. as an example.
When it can determine "Open Internet Explorer, go to www.slashdot.org, scroll down half way" or "Scroll down to the poll" or whatever -- THEN it will achieve wide-spread use. Not until then.
Well, first some background. Been reading X-men and related X-comics, and all things Marvel for quite a while now. I'm a huge, massive fan. I own shirts and trinkets and just *stuff*. I go to cons. I know which character I most resemble (For the record, Kitty Pryde) -- I write fan fiction, I watch the cartoon, and I follow newsgroups, wed pages and mailing lists avidly.
I am a comics geek.
So, the arrival of the X-Men movie left me with some apprension. Marvel hasn't really managed to do a decent comic-to-movie translation.
I was aware that, they were NEVER going to get 35 years of comics into 2 hours of movie. It just isn't possible, so I steeled myself for that.
I was still impressed, and pleased. I loved this. I've seen it twice. (Once opening night, once 2 days later, and seeing it again today) I'll buy the DVD. I'll buy the soundtrack. I'll buy the toys and the shirts and all the stuff. The movie was GOOD. No bones (admanatium or otherwise) about it.
And so, on with my review of the review.
Ok, Well, Rob liked it, so I can't bitch too much about his comments. Hell, on re-reading it, I can't bitch at all. My onle response to anything is the following
***Quote***
I was kinda sad that Mystique was essentially reduced to a covert-ops sort of character instead of a bad-ass. I'm not sure if her lack of lines was intentional, or if perhaps they ended up on the cutting-room floor because Rebecca Romain-Stamos can't act. Maybe [director Bryan] Singer just wanted her silent and cold, but I'd always thought of her as more of a leader than she ended up being portrayed here.
***ENDQuote***
I suspect this was done more to keep her (and the rest of the mutie lackey crew) from overshadowing Magneto. Mags wasn't supposed to be Evil, as much as he was Misguided (And, maybe not even that, but I digress) -- His henchmen aren't supposed to be stars. Or leaders.
Okay, onto JonKatz's comments. Woo. I have a lot to say here. This is gonna get long.
***Quote***
His biggest problem was that Stewart and McKellen's acting almost totally overwhelm the movie. You had to feel sorry for Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), James Marsden (Cyclops), Halle Berry (Storm) Anna Paquin (Rogue), Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (Mystique) and the others who seemed to literally shrink in the company of Stewart and McKellen.
***End Quote***
Um, were we watching the same movie? The X-men one, right? Good. Thought so.
Okay, well, while yes, McKellen and Stewart were great actors, intense guys, gave a wonderful performance -- the focus of the movie was NOT on them. Hell, Xaiver was taken out of the action for the entire end scene.
Magneto is the Big Bad Guy. He was supposed to have the spotlight. And did. And did an excellent job. The point is, he WAS supposed to outshine his lackeys. They are not the focus, despite nifty blue or yellow skin. Despite amazing powers. Despite nakedness, feralness or badassness. Magneto is the focus.
As for Xaiver, I'm sorry, he was a backround player. Yes, Stewart was rather intense, but, he was by no means outshining Jackman (Wolverine) - Perhaps, yes, he did make his prescence known with the rest of the X-men, but again, he's supposed to. The scenes that involved him, he was the focus. He was speaking, giving the audience information.
***Quote***
It's easy to see why some geeks and many outcasts have always loved the X-Men a sentiment very much reflected in the movie. It's easy to resonate with a film that has a U.S. Senator pushing for the public listing of all "mutants" and seeking to remove them from the public school system of America because they might conceivably be dangerous. The very same thing, of course, is happening to "geeks, Goths and freaks" all over the United States today, post-Columbine.
***END QUOTE*
What are you, a Perl script?
Jesus on a pogo stick, can you go an entire article, can you go 100 printed words without mentioning Columbine? I agreed with you to some degree and even I'm sick of it. This movie has nothing to do with geeks or our so-called social problems.
Yeah, yeah, you protest "Mutants are outcasts, just like geeks." Woo. So are gays, blacks, jews, women, the disbled, etc, etc, etc, etc, so on, so forth, yadda, yadda.
Yes, there's a theme of acceptance, understanding and destroying prejudice. Its a nice theme. A happy theme.
Know what? Very few people give a flying whoosis about it. We like the characters. We like the stories. The theme is bloody secondary.
***Quote***
Until the very end of the movie, which is a somewhat hokey confrontation at the Statue of Liberty, they never really seem to jell as a team.
***End Quote***
HOKEY???? HOKEY? Puh-lease. What would you have had them do? Sit down with Magneto and offer him tea?
That confrontation was beautifully filmed. It showed the X-men AND the BoM (Brotherhood of Mutants, I'm not typing it out long again)'s powers, it gave Jean and Storm a chance to be strong women, it had a really pretty fight scene with Wolvering and Mystique, the effects were flawless, the martial arts were well done, and the setting made sense.
As for team dymanics -- Did you miss Storm and Cyclops rescuing Rogue and Wolverine? Were you getting soda or taking a poo at the time? Did you forget that Cyclops and Wolverine Do Not Get Along? You don't see them as a 'team' until the fight, and, frankly, you didn't need to. They acted as a team in the statue just fine, even cooperating to get Scott's visor back to him, regardless of the fact that Wolverine does not like Scott and vice versa.
***Quote***
We're supposed to hate Magento, but there isn't anything particularly hateful about him.
***End Quote***
No, we are NOT. We're supposed to see that he's NOT hateful. That he's wrong, but not Evil. That he's tragic. Like MacBeth, or Hamlet. Or like your precious Columbine geeks.
Right idea, WRONG implementation.
***Quote***
The movie has too little humor. Apart from a couple of lame jokes cracked by Wolverine, it wouldn't have any.
*** End Quote***
Ah, you must have been out for a poo during the following scenes: (I don't gaurantee accuracy. I'm a fan, not a critic or tape recorder)
Xaiver (speaking to Cyclops, referring to Wolverine) - "You don't like him, do you?"
Cyclops - "No, how could you tell?"
Xaiver = "Well, I am psychic, you know."
and
Wolverine (in his spiffy black leather X-men uniform) - "You actually go outside in these?"
Cyclops - "Would you prefer yellow spandex?"
-- You know, Katz, you really gotta get ahold of that problem with your bowels. Going out for a poo so many times in the movie is really ruining your experience of it. I recommend a steady diet of cheese and whole milk.
Okay, enough of ripping poor Jon to shreds. On with the next review.
***Quote***
Minor characters apparently had to beg for lines -- the three evil henchmen have a grand total of perhaps three lines between them, two for Toad (wisecracks), one for Mystique (supermodels should be seen but not heard) and zero for Large Grunting Guy
***Endquote***
They're HENCHMEN. THey're not supposed to be talkative. And, given that Mystique talked as Gyrich, and Drake, and Kelly, I'd say she had quote a few lines. The actress didn't. The character did.
Toad had more than two lines, but, yes all were wisecracks. Again, he's a henchman. You want Shakespere?
Large Grunting Guy (Sabretooth. And his name was given at least twice. Pay attention please) - Had several lines. (What, were you people all pooing? Lord, you gotta take care of that) -- "Scream for me" and "You owe me a scream" -- which, I might add, are dead-on-perfect for the character. Also, he's a BIG scary feral guy. He's not supposed to talk, he's supposed to just, growl a lot and bite people. Duh.
***Quote***
Somewhere in there was probably an explanation of why Cyclops can't open his eyes without huge bursts of ravening energy pouring from them, but we didn't get to see it.
***End Quote***
Quick thought. The guy is a mutant. Xaiver SAID some of them can't control their powers. Isn't that about all the explanation you need? Do we NEED a 5 minute discussion on the man's eyes? Not really. We got the idea at the train staion. Exposition wasn't needed, warrented or wanted. It was all there, you just needed to THINK a little.
***Quote***
And of course I could stare at Rogue all day, she's easy on the eyes, if you know what I mean.
***End Quote***
She's also SIXTEEN. Good grief. Stare at the nude blue chick, or the hot redhead, or the regal black lady with the white hair. But not the kid. Sheesh.
***Quote***But I didn't come away from the film feeling enlightened or even really entertained.
***End Quote***
Funny. The two audiences I saw it with, and my friends, and THEIR audiences were clapping, cheering, and obviously entertained. You gotta get ahold of those bowel problems. You guys are missing all the good parts of the movies.
***QUOTE***
The good news for the people who liked it is that you can expect lots more -- about 10 minutes of those 90 were devoted to setting up a sequel
***End Quote***
And this is different from any other movie, because??? Yeah, yeah, they setup a sequal. They worked it into the script well, they tied it into the characters well, and they tied it into the previously existing character histories as well, nice tidbit for us fans.
---
*pant pant pant* Longest post I think I've ever written.
Kudos to a friend of mine, Redhawk, for the comment about Katz being a Perl script. I lifted that right from him saying it today (And if he got it from someone else, well, I'm not aware of it, so, tough)
I've been watching the trailers and the articles and all that for ... well.. as long as they've been out. From what I can tell, while its not completly absolutly accurate, the protrayels of the characters are true to the book, as much as a 2 hour movie can make then. One of my biggest 'issues' was Wolverine, but, the actor seems to be doing a rather good job, including tossing on some ad-libbed 'bub's. They even managed to get the trademark Wolverine hair, well, as close as it can be gotten without looking REALLY stupid. -Frito -Also a fanfic writer, avid X-fan and all around comics geek.
Okay, give a few details before I go off on my little exposition here --
The people I'll be referring to all have some degree of computer knowledge -- from "User" to "Programmer" to "Network Admin' level - it varies from person to person.
Their musical tastes also wildly vary. From country to pop to rock, to metal, to classical.
--
Just about everyone I know, uses Napster/Gnutella/whatever. Both my roommates, most of my friends, my boyfriend, and a handful of relatives and myself. We've all got oodles and oodles of mp3's. Lots of 'em.
We also have an immense amount of CD's. Not burnt copies, but the normal kind. The kind you go buy in the store. With the liner notes and the lyrics and all that.
Some of the Mp3's and CD's overlap.
Why, you ask, do we buy CD's we have on mp3?
Because, frankly, it's a pain in the ass to burn a CD when you're the average computer owner. Oh, its possible, and we all do it, but, its annoying and ties up the computer. When you don't have a truly sick amount of Ram, when you don't have a massivly fast CPU, when you're the average Joe, who uses his computer for the 'net, for games, and for balancing his checkbook, you don't waste time/speed/performance by burning music CD's.
It takes a lot more effort to burn a CD than it does to buy one. Even at 18.99, 19.99, 23.99, its much faster to pop off into the music store, pick up a CD, and go home.
Espically when you have a car CD player. We generally have mp3's for home, and CD's for the car. They live in the car. Some of them have never seen the inside of our homes.
Its all about convieniace. We hear a song on the radio a few times, we think "Gee, that's a band I like... hey, the *insert store name here* is on the way home, I'll stop by" -- We hit the ATM, we hit the store. 15 minutes later, We have music.
Also, as a side note -- very often, the mp3's we have are obscure, hard to find, or older music. Stuff that would be difficult to find at the local music store.
In my, and apparantly the opinions of my friends and people I know, mp3's aren't stopping us from buying music, they're just another way of having it. Cd's are still easy to get, easy to use. Burnt copies are a pain. They require *GASP!* effort. Effort better used on playing Quake, Rainbow 6, Roller Coaster Tycoon or SMAC. Effort better spent on chatting, writing, working. Effort better spent on doing stuff, instead of sitting around waiting for a CD to finish burning, hoping it won't be a botched burn.
Just my 14 and a half cents.
You know, its really quite disturbing to watch the endless amounts of whining about Jon Katz
None of your typed whining and bitching and moaning is going to stop you from having to see the articles. If you don't like them, for god's sake, don't read them. You all aren't small children who are forced to eat your vegetables, you are adults supposedly and you are all supposed to be mature enough to NOT read something you don't like. If you don't agree with him, stop bitching and moaning about it, and just shut the fuck up, and don't read the articles. For my own opinion, its high time someone DID say something about how 'geeks' are treated. Self-promoting or not, arrogant or not, Katz has a point, and if you all could grow up and stop whining about it, you might be able to see his point. This book in published form means that I can drop a copy on my mother's desk in her classroom, and, there's a small chance that she'll finally see that those quiet kids are really getting harassed and don't deserve it. This book means that, hopefully, some skinny nerd will get listened to by a principal, and it means that somewhere, some computer geek might have a plesant time in school, where he might not have previously. Maybe you all need to remember something you hopefully were taught as kids. If you can't say something nice, don't say it at all Acting like immature children changes nothing. Being intelligent and mature does
I can't see programmed RPing replacing, or even coming close to replacing tabletop paper-pen and dice.
You don't get the charcter interaction, development, or socialization.
God forbid us geeks have socialization...
This might end up being a good character and adventure generation tool, but I don't see it gaining massive populatiry among serious gamers. Those of us who RP as a hobby, I've noted, like developing personalities into our characters.
I think a great deal of the lack of a total switch from paper to digital is sheer portability. The laptop computer is all well and good. I love them. However, they are still somewhat bulkier than a newspaper or magazine. They still attract attemtion as a 'unusual' item, are expensive, prone to theft, and require batteries, power supply's and carrying satchels. A newspaper is not only portable - but disposable. A novel - fits in my jacket pocket. A radio - change the batteries twice a month at the most. And, I believe, even as laptops and desktops merge, and become easier to use and carry, we will still retain our love of paper, just as we still go to the theatre, listen to the radio, and go outside and play baseball sometimes. There are other factors involved in entertainment and information than what hits our eyes, tickles our ears, and feeds our brains. (You know, I like that line. I think I shall quote it in a sig file today) -- We go to the movies for the group big-screen expierence. For the popcorn and the soda and the sticky floors. We read books for the feel of the paper under our fingers, for the sound of rustling pages, and for the smell of a new book (If you don't know what I mean, go to the bookstore, purchase a book, ANY book, open it stick your nose in, and take a deep breath. Its GREAT) Its not 'middle media' or 'old media' or 'new media'. Its what we DO as humans. We add to our choices of entertainment. Rock music didn't eliminate classical music. Movies didn't eliminate plays. TV didn't eliminate theatre. The internet won't eliminate books, newspaper or television either.
Aw, now you made me break out the HTML. DAMMIT! I wanted to be lazy!
Are you suggesting that the number of people saying or doing something imply whether it is more or less right?
Nope. I'm saying that Katz should have at LEAST responded to the allegations that he was wrong, just like you are doing to me, and I am doing to you.
The solution is not for one or more people to shut up. Far from it. The solution is education. Each individual must learn to tolerate and respect the views of other no matter how stringly they disagree. Only then might they begin to believe that they may be afforded the same in return.
Tolerate, respect - yes.
Welcome into my private space where I can relax and enjoy the company of people who share my views on things? NO!
I'm not talking about excluding people whose views differ mine. I'm talking about excluding people who REFUSE to learn the rules. People who refuse to type properly (a specific rule in the commuinty I'm in). People who flame, use allcaps, or just plain act like ignormamsus without any want or desire to change.
The people I want gone are the people who, instead of reasonably discussing the views that don't like, just post hot grits and Natalie Portman posts. The VERY problem you are talking about.
A communist who thinks that capaltisism is bad who is willing to talk about it, I can deal with.
A capaltist who spraypaints "Die COMMIE!" on the wall of the Kremlin I can't.
Frito - Grouch, elisits and capaltist.
Poor little no puppy toe!
I've been rather faithfully reading all of his "Virtual Community' articles - and I'm getting the distinct impression that Katz isn't even READING the comments.
There've been HOW many comments saying he's wrong? And how many were actually written intelligently and with proofs to backup what the were saying?
I wouldnt' change the 'virtual' community at all. Its FINE how it is. They exist, they're hard to find - AND WE LIKE IT THAT WAY!
Sheesh. Noone wants half a billion teenagers invading their personal space. Things start to suck when they get crowded.
This is WHY slashdot has to use moderation. ITs WHY we've got Natalie Portman-hot grits-naked AND fearless troll posts.
Its why the BBS's went down. Its why Usenet sucks sour frog ass. Its why Aol and Compuserve and Prodigy and webTV have caused the downfall of many, many intelligent forums.
So... actually, I WOULD change something - I'd make the virtual communities even HARDER to find. I don't like crowds, I don't like morons.
And if it means Katz is more convinced we don't exist -- GOOD. I'm more and more inclined to think he's jus a Perl Script anyway.
Frito - Grouch, elitist, capitalist. And damn proud of it.
Poor little no puppy toe!