That book rocks! However, my reading of it left me with the impression that the author was saying that human genetic traits had very little to do with history, society, distribution of power, etc... In fact he was stating it was geographic availability of certain plants and animals that led to historical traditions such as record-keeping, literacy, metallurgy, etc... And most importantly, turned farmers into biological weapons in relation to hunter-gatherers.
Case in point, the Spanish domination of the Incan Empire in the new world. The Spaniards were better equipped (steel weapons, horses) yet significantly outmanned. Total victory was achieved because:
a tradition of literacy outside the priesthood allowed them access to centuries worth of historical records of conquest
the germs they carried to the new world decimated native populations lacking resistance - a resistance they possessed simply because of the greater variety of domestic animals they had been in close contact with for centuries.
It accomplishes little to rely on rules of thumb such as "German precision" when 2000 years ago, it's unlikely that the Roman, Middle Eastern, Indian, Chinese or Greek civilizations would have considered German "barbarians" especially precise!
ouch! that comment re: the mega expensive SGI CD drive brings back bad memories. Although it wasn't my money I consoled myself by rationalizing that the logo was the most expensive part of the package. I mean, it (the logo) was 3D and everything!
Used to love my Indigo2 - great machine (like an uber-Amiga), great OS. Don't miss it one bit though. Really never understood how SGI managed to lose money when they overcharged for everything.
both good points. Sleep is always overlooked! Although the only real way to lose weight is eat less + exercise more, as someone who was once heavy then lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off it became clear that there isn't a linear relationship between effort and results.
At least for me there were certain "weight plateaus" where it took longer to lose 5 lbs than at other times. Conversely, once in a plateau it was relatively easy to stay there as it required a certain amount of effort to gain weight. This so-called virus perhaps affects the body in a similar fashion, but if such a virus exists my interest would be why do some people have it but not others? What is the transmission vector?
There's an great website by John Walker (founder of Autodesk) called The Hackers Diet that explores the nature of weight from a chemical/engineering perspective. Also provides a series of Excel spreadsheets to monitor weight loss/gain
If you cannot hack it, then you were never worth that much in the first place.
That's unnecessarily harsh and also unrealistic. While I've chosen to live on my own terms, I've also gained priceless experience/knowledge working for certain companies. The scale of certain (non-niche) projects often requires greater resources and better distribution than any individual or group of individuals will be able to muster. Not forming your own ventures has nothing to do with native intelligence or initiative. Some people either don't want to or simply aren't suited for it.
Certainly, not all companies are created equal, and there are those who do in fact choose to hide inside companies, trapped by self doubt or cluelessness. However, your argument doesn't account for other possibilities. According to you, a talented animator or software engineer (for example) working on a contractual basis would be a fool to accept a position at a company like Apple, Google, ILM, Blizzard, EA, etc... where she'd gain excellent benefits, stock options and regular exposure to new methods & ideas.
The purpose of these organizations is basically distribution & marketing. Groups accumulate power, only to see it fall away when they become irrelevant: East India Company, the Steel, Railroad and Telegraph industries, any number of nationalistic world powers (Portugal was once feared!), the Soviet Union, etc...
While I suppose people have been hoping for the media cabal to "kick off and shut the f*ck up" for 30 years, only in the current era is that a reasonable expectation.
Straight up supply and demand really. The spice will flow whether the RIAA/MPAA have a hand in it or not. Ironically, while demand is as great as ever, proposed legislation of this sort only drives supply to other channels. Generally speaking, consumers prefer not to be treated as criminals.
Re:Good luck to Steve J...
on
Disney Buys Pixar
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· Score: 3, Insightful
Disney's not exactly known for it's ability to listen - to anyone. Not a matter of malevolence, just hubris. The company is a lot more than the animation division. In recent years they've made it pretty clear just how poorly animators and storytellers are regarded. Throwing money at the problem won't do a thing to change that.
Best possible case - Pixar is treated as an independent division, like Touchstone for example.
my bitterness is my disappointment for a future that could have been, and how it was stolen by those who claimed to be supportive of the ideals you value.
If I read you correctly you are stating that America is better described as classist than racist, and I'd completely agree with that assessment. Generally speaking the only color that matters is green.
I'd also agree that some cultures "suck more than others". Mainstream American culture, regrettably, being one of them. There is no national American culture, just pop culture - an all encompassing consumerism celebrating gluttony, violence and a five-minute attention span. A McDonalds on every corner! The latest Hollywood blockbuster! Wal-Mart! NASCAR! Guns! Antiquated public education! Preferential healthcare! Is this the best someone can aspire to?
When you throw away something genuine in favor of what the mainstream has to offer, it isn't a fair trade... and having done so, to assume you are at the top of the heap is exactly the delusion those who profit from your apathy are feeding you. The so-called American Dream is the whole world's nightmare.
Lousiana isn't exactly a microcosm of the SE United States, much less the entire country, much less the world. Having grown up in the American South, I'm all too familiar with this sort of provincialism.
uh... stupid compared to what? The GIMP? Paintshop? MS Paint? Not everything is inherently simple. A tool as open ended as Photoshop requires a certain level of commitment from the user. I wouldn't call it perfect, but what is? In 12 years I have yet to see an application on Mac, PC or SGI that I'd consider a Photoshop-killer.
When dealing with an analog (chemical!) medium such as film, dpi isn't really a valid metric, as the film uses stochastically arranged groupings of silver halide particles rather than the fixed pixel grid used by an image sensor. The 3500-4000dpi value mentioned in Heller's article is related more to oversampling in the scanning process than to the inherent resolution of 35mm film. Even medium format film will not resolve detail at such a high frequency, as can be easily verified by shooting a resolution chart in a controlled studio environment
Assuming idealized values of 3500dpi-4000dpi, 35mm film would yield a resolution of 18-24 megapixels, as specified below.
35mm film frame: 24mm x 36mm = approx 1" x 1.5"
3500dpi: 18.5 megapixels = 3500px x 5250px
4000dpi: 24 megapixels = 4000px x 6000px
A number of higher end DSLR's achieve this resolution, and this has been the case for a few years. However, as mentioned, scanning at a high dpi value is like oversampling an analog signal. Subject matter, lighting, exposure & aperture significantly affect subjective resolution. Although its comparing apples & oranges, I'd say the digital resolution equivalent of 35mm film can be anywhere from 6 megapixels to 12 megapixels depending on shooting conditions.
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That book rocks! However, my reading of it left me with the impression that the author was saying that human genetic traits had very little to do with history, society, distribution of power, etc... In fact he was stating it was geographic availability of certain plants and animals that led to historical traditions such as record-keeping, literacy, metallurgy, etc... And most importantly, turned farmers into biological weapons in relation to hunter-gatherers.
Case in point, the Spanish domination of the Incan Empire in the new world. The Spaniards were better equipped (steel weapons, horses) yet significantly outmanned. Total victory was achieved because:
It accomplishes little to rely on rules of thumb such as "German precision" when 2000 years ago, it's unlikely that the Roman, Middle Eastern, Indian, Chinese or Greek civilizations would have considered German "barbarians" especially precise!
ouch! that comment re: the mega expensive SGI CD drive brings back bad memories. Although it wasn't my money I consoled myself by rationalizing that the logo was the most expensive part of the package. I mean, it (the logo) was 3D and everything! Used to love my Indigo2 - great machine (like an uber-Amiga), great OS. Don't miss it one bit though. Really never understood how SGI managed to lose money when they overcharged for everything.
both good points. Sleep is always overlooked! Although the only real way to lose weight is eat less + exercise more, as someone who was once heavy then lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off it became clear that there isn't a linear relationship between effort and results.
At least for me there were certain "weight plateaus" where it took longer to lose 5 lbs than at other times. Conversely, once in a plateau it was relatively easy to stay there as it required a certain amount of effort to gain weight. This so-called virus perhaps affects the body in a similar fashion, but if such a virus exists my interest would be why do some people have it but not others? What is the transmission vector?
There's an great website by John Walker (founder of Autodesk) called The Hackers Diet that explores the nature of weight from a chemical/engineering perspective. Also provides a series of Excel spreadsheets to monitor weight loss/gain
Well said.
That's unnecessarily harsh and also unrealistic. While I've chosen to live on my own terms, I've also gained priceless experience/knowledge working for certain companies. The scale of certain (non-niche) projects often requires greater resources and better distribution than any individual or group of individuals will be able to muster. Not forming your own ventures has nothing to do with native intelligence or initiative. Some people either don't want to or simply aren't suited for it.
Certainly, not all companies are created equal, and there are those who do in fact choose to hide inside companies, trapped by self doubt or cluelessness. However, your argument doesn't account for other possibilities. According to you, a talented animator or software engineer (for example) working on a contractual basis would be a fool to accept a position at a company like Apple, Google, ILM, Blizzard, EA, etc... where she'd gain excellent benefits, stock options and regular exposure to new methods & ideas.
The purpose of these organizations is basically distribution & marketing. Groups accumulate power, only to see it fall away when they become irrelevant: East India Company, the Steel, Railroad and Telegraph industries, any number of nationalistic world powers (Portugal was once feared!), the Soviet Union, etc...
While I suppose people have been hoping for the media cabal to "kick off and shut the f*ck up" for 30 years, only in the current era is that a reasonable expectation.
Straight up supply and demand really. The spice will flow whether the RIAA/MPAA have a hand in it or not. Ironically, while demand is as great as ever, proposed legislation of this sort only drives supply to other channels. Generally speaking, consumers prefer not to be treated as criminals.
Disney's not exactly known for it's ability to listen - to anyone. Not a matter of malevolence, just hubris. The company is a lot more than the animation division. In recent years they've made it pretty clear just how poorly animators and storytellers are regarded. Throwing money at the problem won't do a thing to change that.
Best possible case - Pixar is treated as an independent division, like Touchstone for example.
my bitterness is my disappointment for a future that could have been, and how it was stolen by those who claimed to be supportive of the ideals you value.
If I read you correctly you are stating that America is better described as classist than racist, and I'd completely agree with that assessment. Generally speaking the only color that matters is green.
I'd also agree that some cultures "suck more than others". Mainstream American culture, regrettably, being one of them. There is no national American culture, just pop culture - an all encompassing consumerism celebrating gluttony, violence and a five-minute attention span. A McDonalds on every corner! The latest Hollywood blockbuster! Wal-Mart! NASCAR! Guns! Antiquated public education! Preferential healthcare! Is this the best someone can aspire to?
When you throw away something genuine in favor of what the mainstream has to offer, it isn't a fair trade... and having done so, to assume you are at the top of the heap is exactly the delusion those who profit from your apathy are feeding you. The so-called American Dream is the whole world's nightmare.
Lousiana isn't exactly a microcosm of the SE United States, much less the entire country, much less the world. Having grown up in the American South, I'm all too familiar with this sort of provincialism.
uh... stupid compared to what? The GIMP? Paintshop? MS Paint? Not everything is inherently simple. A tool as open ended as Photoshop requires a certain level of commitment from the user. I wouldn't call it perfect, but what is? In 12 years I have yet to see an application on Mac, PC or SGI that I'd consider a Photoshop-killer.
When dealing with an analog (chemical!) medium such as film, dpi isn't really a valid metric, as the film uses stochastically arranged groupings of silver halide particles rather than the fixed pixel grid used by an image sensor. The 3500-4000dpi value mentioned in Heller's article is related more to oversampling in the scanning process than to the inherent resolution of 35mm film. Even medium format film will not resolve detail at such a high frequency, as can be easily verified by shooting a resolution chart in a controlled studio environment
Assuming idealized values of 3500dpi-4000dpi, 35mm film would yield a resolution of 18-24 megapixels, as specified below.A number of higher end DSLR's achieve this resolution, and this has been the case for a few years. However, as mentioned, scanning at a high dpi value is like oversampling an analog signal. Subject matter, lighting, exposure & aperture significantly affect subjective resolution. Although its comparing apples & oranges, I'd say the digital resolution equivalent of 35mm film can be anywhere from 6 megapixels to 12 megapixels depending on shooting conditions.