I figured I'd start a new thread since it's been a while.

Now most of you know me and thus have probably heard me rant about what Sci-Fi became and is trying to become.  I felt a twinge in my soul when I found out that ECW coming to Sci-Fi WASN'T a joke and for 1-3 hours a week...my station would be showing wrastlin'.  I've even come to somewhat love the crappy horror movies...even if that means canceling great shows like...oh I don't know...FARSCAPE.  Now let's see if this man will bring the station back...or if we'll get more shows that will render Sci-Fi Channel into another TNT.

I have made comments throughout the story.


Quote:

Dave Howe flies to top of Sci Fi Hammer steps back from day-to-day control By JOSEF ADALIAN Dave Howe has been beamed up to prexy of Sci Fi Channel, with longtime Sci Fi chief Bonnie Hammer stepping back from day-to-day control of the channel she helped build into a basic cable powerhouse. I should have know a woman was involved in trying to ruin my shows.  Women are always trying to change couch potato geeks and trying to give them make overs so they can date their really ugly and fat friends so the good looking ones can get with the jocks! Howe will now have direct oversight of Sci Fi's L.A.-based original programming department, which had previously reported to Hammer. He'll also control marketing, global brand strategy and the net's rapidly expanding digital domain. Do you know what any of those words in that list mean?  If I were to make a guess I think they're saying they're going to bring in bull riding, a weekly Lifetime movie, and a makeover show. Hammer will still be involved in Sci Fi, but she made it clear that the network was now Howe's to run. "I've had my shot, and our team was able to take Sci Fi from basic obscurity to a No. 6 channel," Hammer said in an interview Tuesday. "I'm still going to be a part of the process, but far more distantly. It's time for someone else to have their fun and take it to the next level. I have tremendous faith in his abilities." What does she mean she help to bring the show out of obscurity?  She was just lucky to work in a time when Farscape, Battlestar Galactica, and a bunch of other good shows came about.  See and she talks about having fun and "taking it to the next level".  What's that mean?  More reality shows and shows that have nothing to do with science fiction?  She probably though..."Hey guys...let's mess with these geeks...Wrestling and Reality Superhero shows!" Promotion marks a rapid ascent for Howe, who joined the NBC U cabler six years ago from the BBC.Howe started at the net as exec VP of marketing and brand strategy. He was upped to g.m. in 2004 and has helped oversee the marketing and development of programming such as "Tin Man," "BSG" and "Eureka." Really...how hard is it to market BSG?  Hey people...want to see the best show on TV?  Ya it even answers questions it brings up and has plot conclusions...unlike that homosexual LOST show....and it makes more sense than Heroes Season 2 did. Howe worked with Hammer and original programming chief Mark Stern to reshape the Sci Fi brand, making the network more appealing to a non-geek crowd. Cabler ended 2007 with its best ratings and revenue since its launch. WHAT THE F$!@*&^$&%%$@!k!!!  What's the point of having a station called the Sci-Fi Channel?  How many people flip to that channel, knowing what it is and say,....wow...I was not expecting Sci-Fi shows...I thought I could get some BLOODY WRESTLING to watch.  And "more appealing to a non-geek crowd"?  Is that why you have horrible B movies (I repeat myself) like MANsquito and Harpies and other shows that are just so bad that I can't even watch them (...ok I can watch them but half the time I think...ya know with the budget they could give me at least 1 more episode of Farscape or Dead Like Me or Firefly or John Doe).  That would be like me bringing a show to Lifetime that's a game show and it's to see how far a man can punch a pregnent woman...if you cause a miscarriage while wearing the Confederate flag...double your points!  How about having Food Network bring you a work out program with only skinny, good looking people?  How about forcing TNT to stop playing the same movie 4 times a day and ruining good movies like Shawshank Redemption?  How about Telemundo having English speaking programs to cater to our non-Mexican friends?  This just makes no sense.  Yes...they might need the money gained from such shows as wrestling...but hey...if they would stop making shows no one watches...they would save and make more money. It also will no doubt increase speculation that Hammer could be poised for another promotion within the NBC U cable universe. She's overseen USA and Sci Fi for four years now, paving the way for major growth at both cablers. And with Jeff Gaspin promoted last year to a bigger gig within the conglom, there'd be room for a new exec to just focus on heading up all of the Peacock's cablers. Yes...yes...go and ruin another great station.  How about making G4 TV even less like TechTV was? "I'm a happy camper, and they treat me very well here," Hammer said of her NBC U bosses. "My assumption and my hope is that I will be around for a long time." Howe identified several major immediate and long-term goals, most of which revolve around expanding the Sci Fi brand and building revenue streams not directly connected to the linear network. [smiley=Cry2.gif] "This brand has so much more untapped potential," Howe said. "My role is to really figure out how we take Sci Fi as a cable network and build it into more of an affinity lifestyle brand. WTF does that even mean?   [smiley=Crying.gif] "As things stand, we're primarily a cable TV brand," he added. "In five years' time, I'd love to be able to say that Sci Fi is no longer just a cable network but a category killer in videogames, mobile and the youth market." Howe said that by the end of that five-year frame, he'd like to see one-third of Sci Fi's revenues coming from sources other than the cable channel. He also hinted that he's been having talks with sister company Universal Studios about launching a movie brand linked to the network. "I'd love for there to be a Sci Fi Pictures label out there," he said, emphasizing that nothing was imminent. Other priorities for Howe include:    * International expansion. "At the end of 2007, Sci Fi was in 10 markets," he said. "By the end of 2008, we're hoping to be in 20 markets, and I think we might even surpass that."    * Digital. Sci Fi launched a tech-themed site last year and has plans for more specialty offshoots of its Sci Fi.com hub. "You'll see us diversifying and spin off into more stand-alone websites," Howe said, identifying men 18-34 as the target of Sci Fi's digital love.    * Replacing "Battlestar Galactica." Signature skein is preparing to exit, and Howe, working with Stern, is keen to find the next big scripted success for the channel.      More than one option          o (Film) Battlestar Galactica          o (Tv) Battlestar Galactica            Series Information, Seasons, Credits, Awards          o (Tv) Battlestar Galactica            Series Information, Seasons, Credits, Awards Good job...let's just slaughter a shows that's waiting to die peacefully and with dignity...and let's just strip away its flesh so that it'll be picked clean and the fans can tare out their eyes with a rusty spoon. "We just screened two pilots," Howe said. The WGA strike "has slowed us down, but it won't stop our growth in 2008." Exec is also keen on continuing Sci Fi's expansion into unscripted series, pointing to the success of shows such as "Ghost Hunters."

Ok...I've got to go stick my finger down my throat now from looking at all those terms that have no real meanings as remembering that Billy Baldwin played in Harpies which I watched all the way through.

X

I am helpful!

---

So I saw Cloverfield just a bit ago and I went in hating the hype and not really caring about it all that much.

I do have to say that it was worth seeing and I have to say it's one of the better monster vs. city/populace movie I've seen.

I'd give it at least a B+ and at most an A- .  I thought the ending was a bit bad and that's where it lost a lot of points from my scorecard.

I don't want to say anything more than that just in case people watch it.  However if you know and probably heard my gripes about todays movies you'd know how rare it is for me to give any current movie more than a C.

X

The number one reason why Picard is better than Kirk...

http://hardcoredinosaursex.ytmnd.com/

Dinosaurs don't rape Picard.

-b0b
(...snickers.)

Wow Picard fans are getting so desperate now to try and win their point with their minimal points that they've resorted to making stuff up.

X

looked convincing to me

This coming from a guy who used to sculpt fat, naked men with clay.

X

Exactly.  Briney is an expert on the matter, so if he says it looks convincing, who are you to argue?   :P

Now, here's the logical question.  What era did that dinosaur come from?

-b0b
(...thinks that dinosaur was just trying to evolve.)

Could the next Indy movie take us back to the warehouse where the Ark is stored?

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/020108_indianajones2.jpg

X
(Attention should be drawn to the crates...and not how dreamy Indy is)

It should be noted that the writing on the crates is in English, not German.

-b0b
(...thought he'd point that out.)

You have to remember that the Ark was crated up in an American box inside the Nazi box so as not to touch the Ark and become all melty.

X
(Geek point +1 for X...-1 for bob)

Hey guys,

Briney and I decided we'd like to try a podcast and so we started one up for this Saturday around 8 PM on talkshoe

http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

The topic of the podcast will be about movies and I hope to make it a routine thing.  If anyone can join that'd be great.  The good thing about talkshoe is that you can have other people call in and there's a chat and we'd think it'd be fun to talk about movie.

So go to the link on Saturday at 8.

Thanks!

X

Are you entertaining all questions?  Or just movie questions?


...or only PG-13 questions? :(

More along the lines of movie questions...however if you can keep some of the 4 letter words out that'd be nice.

X

Any movie?

-b0b
(...begins plotting.)

I can't promise we know every movie or remember all the movies...but ya...pretty much any movie.  We've got a few questions written between us (1/2 a dozen from each other so we're more spontaneous) but we're shooting for an hour and if it's less than that oh well.  But it'd be fun if you guys could call in..be on air and all that.

Talkshoe.com has pretty much all the info you need to be a listener and it should be fun.

Hopefully I'll have the software figured out and all set by then.

X

So I heard this remake of battlefield earth was in the works, is that true?

...had to go there.

And what was your take on naughty night nurses 7?

I've only seen the GOOD ones...1,2,6, and 9

I don't know how many of you are planning to join Briney and myself for our first podcast but I thought I'd put up instructions on how to fully interact with the podcast using the stuff from talkshoe.  I figure, I have the time...might as well help people out.


To fully participate (talk, listen, & chat), you will need to Sign Up as a TalkShoe member, create a 10-digit PIN, and download the TalkShoe Live! Pro software. (the following links are just that:

http://www.talkshoe.com - the main page and the place to start to sign up to be a member.  This will get you into the chat room and also able to call in and help give us something to talk about.  This is where you can download Talkshoe Live! Pro if you want.  It's a more "advanced" chat tool.

I'm not entirely sure how smooth this will be so you'll have to forgive us if we don't carry out the show perfectly the first time.)

Find the Community Call of interest and click its name or photo icon. From the Community Call page, click the Purple Talk button which launches the TalkShoe Live! Pro software. From this software, you can chat and hear the audio of the Community Call.

(http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391 - that our show's site.  You can click on listen live just to listen or if you dled the Live! Pro tool then you can log on to the chat and listen as well.  I believe you need to sign up to listen live but I know you don't have to be a member to download the show after it's recorded and hosted on the site.  However, you'd miss out in listening to us LIVE!)

If you want to talk via telephone, Skype, etc., use your phone to call 1-724-444-7444 and follow the audio instructions.  These include typing in the typing in the show code (14391) and then typing in your PIN code that you entered when signing up (they recommend using your phone number and it's nice just because it's easy to remember).

The reason why we kinda wanted to do this at 8 on Sat. is that many people who have cell phones gets nights and weekends free.  This being a long distance number, and almost everyone having a cell phone, we'd figure this would work doubly well.  The problem is, and this is why I'd like to get at least a few live listeners is because if you can't hear us well then you can type in the chat and we can try and figure what to do.

Hope that helps!  See ya Saturday at 8!

X

I have a few questions ready, now if I can only remember to call in...

Anywho until then, Captain Kirk is gay, discuss.

"I'm gay for Captain Kirk" you mean?

You and me both....GROWWWL

X

X wrote on Feb 8^th, 2008 at 7:57am:

I'm not entirely sure how smooth this will be so you'll have to forgive us if we don't carry out the show perfectly the first time.)

I demand perfection!  Instant, flawless perfection!

-b0b
(...so there!)

Good podcast gentlemen, I'll certainly tune in next week as well.  Kind of inspired me to do a podcast too  :P what do you think of Gamer Geeks?

I'd listen to it...sorry we couldn't get to your call...we just were surprised to have listeners and callers already!

Here's the first episode of Film Geeks to listen or to download!

http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Sorry I couldn't participate!  I'm definitely planning on watching the show, though.

For what it's worth, I think a "Geeks with Guns" show would be awesome.

-b0b
(...would pose an AR-15 in front of his network rack.)

Crap!  I did forget to call in.  Bob you're fired for not reminding me!

Wow, now I'm thinking about digging out my 35mm camera and taking some shots of my AR15's posed in front of the network rack.

Nothing is sexier than a Bushmaster XM15 leaning against a Cisco 1760.

-b0b
(...except a booth babe with a .50 cal.)

Yeah, your gun girl pics.  That's not right.

Please seek professional help.

If you have a microphone for your computer I found out you don't need to use your phone to call in.  There's a free program called Gizo Project and it allows people to make free calls from computer to computer or to a SIP.  If you need help setting it up for the next show...contact me and I'll walk you through what you need to do.  The quality of our next podcast...at least on my end...will be better.

X

spanky wrote on Feb 11^th, 2008 at 11:47am:

Please seek professional help.

(˙uʍop ǝpısdn ǝʇıɹʍ uɐɔ ǝɥ ʇ33l os sı˙˙˙)
q0q-

˙zllıʞs ʇ33l ʎɯ ɟo snolɐǝɾ ʇsnɾ ǝɹ,noʎ

Rabble mooku samble blaaa.

That's 'I hate you' in my crazy made-up space language.

spanky wrote on Feb 12^th, 2008 at 8:51am:

Rabble mooku samble blaaa. That's 'I hate you' in my crazy made-up space language.

Wow, thanks!  I've always wondered what language you're mother was lapsing into during the heat of the moment...

-b0b
(...thinks she used those exact words, actually.)

Star Trek XI has been announced!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0796366/

The cast list looks... umm... interesting.  

Sylar is Spock, Hoot/The Hulk Eric Bana is a Romulan, Karl Urban (the sniper/bad guy from the second Bourne Movie and from the Doom Movie) is Bones, Harold from Harold and Kumar is Sulu, Shaun of the Dead is Scotty, and Jennifer Morrison (Dr. Cameron from House) is Kirk's wife.

-b0b
(...bets it will suck.)

I wonder if they're going to kill his wife in this one?  Plus, do you think it's a good idea to give Kirk a wife...then he can't get with any of the crew, aliens, or various other women species and be the sex symbol he is.

X

Maybe they'll just make him a Mormon, then it'll be cool?

-b0b
(...shrugs.)

Today, Sunday at 8 PM, Briney and I will once again be hosting our Film Geeks show.  I hope you can all make it and have some fun.  Join us...won't you?

http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

X

Dang it, I won't be able to catch this one either.  Meredith and I will be driving back from Buffalo, New York today.  We probably won't be back until around 9:00pm.   :(

Best of luck!

-b0b
(...still needs to watch the video of the last one.)

No prob bob...drive carefully!  Hope everything went well.

X

We made it back just fine, thank you.  I have a new found hatred for dilapidated Honda Civics, though.  I swear to God, I had the pedal all the way to the floor for eight solid hours yesterday and never busted 80mph.

Admittedly, we did make the entire trip on 17 gallons of gas, though.  It would've taken 34 in the Jeep of Doom.

-b0b
(...still would've rather had the Jeep.)

You must have driven one without V-TAK!

Is that like "blast processing"?

Quote:

Is that like "blast processing"?

What?  No, what?  We are no longer friends.

I couldn't get the VTEC to kick in, yo.  Hell, I couldn't even get the windshield wipers to work correctly.

The most annoying aspect of the drive, though, was the malfunctioning cruise control.  I had to drive without cruise control for seven freakin' hours.  Do you know what a pain that is?

-b0b
(...hates Honda.)

---

Quote:

I had to drive without cruise control for seven freakin' hours.  Do you know what a pain that is?

Protip: Cruise control is for little girls.

99.5% of the the eight-hour trip took place on I-90.  I went at the same speed on the same tollway for the whole trip.  Cruise control would've been awesome.

-b0b
(...grumbles.)

Quote:

I went at the same speed on the same tollway for the whole trip.

See, that was your problem right there.  You should vary the speed from 20 under the speed limit to 5 over.  Then when you see a cop try for double the speed limit!

Speeding ticket + wreckless driving = double points, right?

wreckless driving is a good thing!

That is what Carmageddon taught us.

That and you get more bonus points for when you have a pedestrian stick to the hood of your car.

X

Grammar Nazi says:  Wreckless driving is great.  It's the reckless driving you have to watch out for.

-b0b
(...prefers wreckless, actually.)

Episode 2 is up and ready to download and/or stream.

http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

X

Eventually the grammar nazi thing is going to get old bob.  When it does may I suggest horrible stabby death?

For what it's worth, the Grammar Nazi is considering defecting to Mother Russia.

-b0b
(...Grammar Commie, FTW!)

Doesn't a Grammar Commie mean that the group agrees on what structure or word is correct and the controlling party is just a figurehead of sorts?

In a perfect world, yes.  In the real world, it's just the opposite.  The group's opinion doesn't really matter, but they're forced to pretend that they agree with the controlling party upon fear of death.

Remember, English doesn't borrow from other languages, it follows them down dark alleys, mugs them, and searches through their pockets for loose grammar.

-b0b
(...needs to find the relevant picture.)

Now I don't have much of a filter between what I think and what I say...but taking it away would be a huge mistake!

I can see it now.  Why does typing in all the addresses I used in this program have to be so boring?!?!  *mind wonders* Uh oh, why is porn popping up??  No not now!  *boss walks by*  I win the chance to work for another company!

There is no way that thing is going to cost $300 when it hits the market.

Absolutely no way.

-b0b
(...$3,000 maybe.)

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/02/20/its-official-live-action-akira-confirmed-already-for-2009/

Akira live action set for 2009...

wow, what do you guys think of this?

My very first anime...I'm just scared who they're going to tap for the roles as well as cutting out huge amounts of storyline to appease an American audience.

X

On Sunday at 8 PM...Briney and I will be holding our 3rd episode of Film Geeks - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391 - join us won't you.

Briney has also been floating the idea of having a Creation/Christianity podcast as well sometime soon.

X

Well, it can't be any gayer than the "re-release" they did a few years back.

-b0b
(...would rather see a Battle Royale remake.)

My apologies, I did not make it on time, and was pretty lame.

I am sorry.

doing it in a few minutes

Episode 3 Is Up!

You can check out our podcast here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

You can email us at film.geeks@yahoo.com with any questions you want answered and if they're good we might even put them in the show. We would also love fan and/or hate mail which we'd also be willing to air.

We've also started a MySpace page here - http://www.myspace.com/filmgeeksshow

And our blog here - http://filmgeeksshow.blogspot.com/

X

Wouldn't you guys rather have a FilmGeeks@GeekCrew.Net e-mail address?  Or FilmGeeks@WesDownersMom.com?

-b0b
(...grins.)

Quote:

Researchers Find Way to Steal Encrypted Data By JOHN MARKOFF Published: February 22, 2008 SAN FRANCISCO — A group led by a Princeton University computer security researcher has developed a simple method to steal encrypted information stored on computer hard disks. The technique, which could undermine security software protecting critical data on computers, is as easy as chilling a computer memory chip with a blast of frigid air from a can of dust remover. Encryption software is widely used by companies and government agencies, notably in portable computers that are especially susceptible to theft. The development, which was described on the group’s Web site Thursday, could also have implications for the protection of encrypted personal data from prosecutors. The move, which cannot be carried out remotely, exploits a little-known vulnerability of the dynamic random access, or DRAM, chip. Those chips temporarily hold data, including the keys to modern data-scrambling algorithms. When the computer’s electrical power is shut off, the data, including the keys, is supposed to disappear. In a technical paper that was published Thursday on the Web site of Princeton’s Center for Information Technology Policy, the group demonstrated that standard memory chips actually retain their data for seconds or even minutes after power is cut off. When the chips were chilled using an inexpensive can of air, the data was frozen in place, permitting the researchers to easily read the keys — long strings of ones and zeros — out of the chip’s memory. “Cool the chips in liquid nitrogen (-196 °C) and they hold their state for hours at least, without any power,” Edward W. Felten, a Princeton computer scientist, wrote in a Web posting. “Just put the chips back into a machine and you can read out their contents.” The researchers used special pattern-recognition software of their own to identify security keys among the millions or even billions of pieces of data on the memory chip. “We think this is pretty serious to the extent people are relying on file protection,” Mr. Felten said. The team, which included five graduate students led by Mr. Felten and three independent technical experts, said they did not know if such an attack capability would compromise government computer information because details of how classified computer data is protected are not publicly available. Officials at the Department of Homeland Security, which paid for a portion of the research, did not return repeated calls for comment. The researchers also said they had not explored disk encryption protection systems as now built into some commercial disk drives. But they said they had proved that so-called Trusted Computing hardware, an industry standard approach that has been heralded as significantly increasing the security of modern personal computers, does not appear to stop the potential attacks. A number of computer security experts said the research results were an indication that assertions of robust computer security should be regarded with caution. “This is just another example of how things aren’t quite what they seem when people tell you things are secure,” said Peter Neumann, a security researcher at SRI International in Menlo Park, Calif. The Princeton researchers wrote that they were able to compromise encrypted information stored using special utilities in the Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems. Apple has had a FileVault disk encryption feature as an option in its OS X operating system since 2003. Microsoft added file encryption last year with BitLocker features in its Windows Vista operating system. The programs both use the federal government’s certified Advanced Encryption System algorithm to scramble data as it is read from and written to a computer hard disk. But both programs leave the keys in computer memory in an unencrypted form. “The software world tends not to think about these issues,” said Matt Blaze, an associate professor of computer and information science at the University of Pennsylvania. “We tend to make assumptions about the hardware. When we find out that those assumptions are wrong, we’re in trouble.” Both of the software publishers said they ship their operating systems with the file encryption turned off. It is then up to the customer to turn on the feature. Executives of Microsoft said BitLocker has a range of protection options that they referred to as “good, better and best.” Austin Wilson, director of Windows product management security at Microsoft, said the company recommended that BitLocker be used in some cases with additional hardware security. That might include either a special USB hardware key, or a secure identification card that generates an additional key string. The Princeton researchers acknowledged that in these advanced modes, BitLocker encrypted data could not be accessed using the vulnerability they discovered. An Apple spokeswoman said that the security of the FileVault system could also be enhanced by using a secure card to add to the strength of the key. The researchers said they began exploring the utilities for vulnerabilities last fall after seeing a reference to the persistence of data in memory in a technical paper written by computer scientists at Stanford in 2005. The Princeton group included Seth D. Schoen of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, William Paul of Wind River Systems and Jacob Appelbaum, an independent computer security researcher. The issue of protecting information with disk encryption technology became prominent recently in a criminal case involving a Canadian citizen who late in 2006 was stopped by United States customs agents who said they had found child pornography on his computer. When the agents tried to examine the machine later, they discovered that the data was protected by encryption. The suspect has refused to divulge his password. A federal agent testified in court that the only way to determine the password otherwise would be with a password guessing program, which could take years. A federal magistrate ruled recently that forcing the suspect to disclose the password would be unconstitutional.

Am I the only one that is reminded of AfroTech Mods?  These guys are seriously crazy hax0rs.  If they are ever in the area, I'm going to buy them a Bawls...

-b0b
(...or Jolt.  Whatever.)

Starship Troopers 3

http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/wp-content/st3-marauder.jpg

I wish I was kidding.  You can check out the trailer here:  

http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/starship-troopers-3-marauder-movie-trailer.php

-b0b
(...didn't even know there was a Starship Troopers 2!)

Holy awesome movie batman!

...I still need to see the second movie!

If you were to listen to our show on Sunday you would have heard this news 3 days ago. Mawha ha ha ha!

X

I am not going to lie.  It is very hard for me to remember to catch your show.

So far I am 0 for 3.  :(

Apparently Briney missed it too.  HA!

Am I the only one who thinks a combination of Super Troopers and Starship Troopers would be awesome?  Starship Super Troopers?

-b0b
(...needs to rent the second Starship Troopers flop movie.)

Starship Troopers 2 is horrible.  I wanted to gouge my eyes out with a rusty spoon when watching that movie.  The only thing it has in common with the first is the title of the movie...not even a co-ed shower scene!

X

I heard it has bewbies.

-b0b
(...shrugs.)

Quote:

Automated killer robots 'threat to humanity': expert Feb 27 06:18 AM US/Eastern Increasingly autonomous, gun-totting robots developed for warfare could easily fall into the hands of terrorists and may one day unleash a robot arms race, a top expert on artificial intelligence told AFP. "They pose a threat to humanity," said University of Sheffield professor Noel Sharkey ahead of a keynote address Wednesday before Britain's Royal United Services Institute. Intelligent machines deployed on battlefields around the world -- from mobile grenade launchers to rocket-firing drones -- can already identify and lock onto targets without human help. There are more than 4,000 US military robots on the ground in Iraq, as well as unmanned aircraft that have clocked hundreds of thousands of flight hours. The first three armed combat robots fitted with large-caliber machine guns deployed to Iraq last summer, manufactured by US arms maker Foster-Miller, proved so successful that 80 more are on order, said Sharkey. But up to now, a human hand has always been required to push the button or pull the trigger. It we are not careful, he said, that could change. Military leaders "are quite clear that they want autonomous robots as soon as possible, because they are more cost-effective and give a risk-free war," he said. Several countries, led by the United States, have already invested heavily in robot warriors developed for use on the battlefield. South Korea and Israel both deploy armed robot border guards, while China, India, Russia and Britain have all increased the use of military robots. Washington plans to spend four billion dollars by 2010 on unmanned technology systems, with total spending expected rise to 24 billion, according to the Department of Defense's Unmanned Systems Roadmap 2007-2032, released in December. James Canton, an expert on technology innovation and CEO of the Institute for Global Futures, predicts that deployment within a decade of detachments that will include 150 soldiers and 2,000 robots. The use of such devices by terrorists should be a serious concern, said Sharkey. Captured robots would not be difficult to reverse engineer, and could easily replace suicide bombers as the weapon-of-choice. "I don't know why that has not happened already," he said. But even more worrisome, he continued, is the subtle progression from the semi-autonomous military robots deployed today to fully independent killing machines. "I have worked in artificial intelligence for decades, and the idea of a robot making decisions about human termination terrifies me," Sharkey said. Ronald Arkin of Georgia Institute of Technology, who has worked closely with the US military on robotics, agrees that the shift towards autonomy will be gradual. But he is not convinced that robots don't have a place on the front line. "Robotics systems may have the potential to out-perform humans from a perspective of the laws of war and the rules of engagement," he told a conference on technology in warfare at Stanford University last month. The sensors of intelligent machines, he argued, may ultimately be better equipped to understand an environment and to process information. "And there are no emotions that can cloud judgement, such as anger," he added. Nor is there any inherent right to self-defence. For now, however, there remain several barriers to the creation and deployment of Terminator-like killing machines. Some are technical. Teaching a computer-driven machine -- even an intelligent one -- how to distinguish between civilians and combatants, or how to gauge a proportional response as mandated by the Geneva Conventions, is simply beyond the reach of artificial intelligence today. But even if technical barriers are overcome, the prospect of armies increasingly dependent on remotely-controlled or autonomous robots raises a host of ethical issues that have barely been addressed. Arkin points out that the US Department of Defense's 230 billion dollar Future Combat Systems programme -- the largest military contract in US history -- provides for three classes of aerial and three land-based robotics systems. "But nowhere is there any consideration of the ethical implications of the weaponisation of these systems," he said. For Sharkey, the best solution may be an outright ban on autonomous weapons systems. "We have to say where we want to draw the line and what we want to do -- and then get an international agreement," he said.

Oh noes!  SkyNet will soon be a reality!

-b0b
(...heads for the bunker.)

Heh, I'm workin on that stuff. S'all I can say.

So briney is the one responsible for skynet?

That's it, I am going to go back in time and bang terminate his mom!

I just terminated his mom last night.

-b0b
(...it was hot.)

Episode 4 Is Up Of Film Geeks

You can check out our podcast here -

http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

You can email us at film.geeks@yahoo.com with any questions you want answered and if they're good we might even put them in the show. We would also love fan and/or hate mail which we'd also be willing to air.

We've also started a MySpace page here - http://www.myspace.com/filmgeeksshow

You can also check out Patrick's blog at http://agentx216.blogspot.com/ and check out our YouTube accounts where Patrick has a show called B Movies - http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=agentx216 . And Briney has his Michael Bay is Epic tribute video - http://www.youtube.com/user/Decimus13 .

Don't forget to become members of talkshoe and click on the "Follow This" link on our page to support us. Also there is a place to write reviews and rank us. Also please download our shows, listen to us live, and call in - all to show your support for us.

If you need help on what to do to listen and/or call in using talkshoe feel free to email us. I've also found a good program called Gizmo that can be set up to "call" talkshoe if you have a microphone for your computer. We can help you set that up as well. Also subscribe to our blog updates using this link http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ConfirmSubscribe&friendID=331857093

Thanks!

X

Blast!  Why can't I remember to call in?!

I will email you some good questions...I saw snakes on a plane this weekend, it left me full of questions.

Sadly I will be gone this weekend on a small road trip.  8-)

...briney did a tribute movie to micheal bay?  I am reminded of a quote, "When you are younger baseball cards are pieces of your idols.  When you are an adult they are just pictures of other men.  That is creepy, get rid of them."

I hope you guys lambasted Mr. Bay for Pearl Harbor.  That movie was pure tripe.

-b0b
(...what the gay.)

If you listen to the first episode you'd hear my Bay is a hack speech and Briney's I love everything he's ever done speech.

X

I hope "everything" doesn't include Pearl Harbor and that atrocious Lionel Richie music video.

-b0b
(...serious suckage.)

http://filmgeeksshow.blogspot.com/

There are two blog posts. The first being my explanation on how I rate movies and the second is my first movie review. Enjoy...won't you?

X

You can now listen to our latest show of Film Geeks here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

This week we talked about books we read first and later watched movies based on those books.

This coming Sunday at 8ish EST, we'll be talking about movies made from comic books.  Join us live!

Subscribe to our myspace blog - http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ConfirmSubscribe&friendID=331857093

Out talkshoe page when you become a member - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391 "Click on 'Follow This'"

Email us at - film.geeks@yahoo.com with any comments, questions, movie review requests, etc.

Also don't be afraid to comment on any of our pages, blog posts, or anything.  And tell your friends about our show, you don't even need to listen live, Sundays at 8ish EST http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391, to enjoy the show.  You can stream the show when you're surfing the web or download it as an mp3 and work out to our witty banter!

X

I hope you guys take a moment to touch on The Punisher.  That movie blew chunks.

-b0b
(...SUX0R.)

I thought the punisher was a pretty good movie.  Travolta made a good bad guy.  Not that hard considering he is crazy in real life.

There have been 2 Punisher movies...I liked the new one but the Dolph Lungrend one sucked and blew at the same time.

X

You guys should dedicate a segment to horror movies.  I'd pay good money (at least $0.25 to $0.50) to see a show about Killer Klowns from Outer Space and Dead Alive.

-b0b
(...thinks Dead Alive is Peter Jackson's best movie.)

We talked a little about that 2 shows ago (Killer Klowns that is) but I'm sure we could do some slap stick horror movies.  The only problem being...I'm sure Briney's too much of a snob to have seen much of them.  So you might actually have to join the show live or something like that.

Dead Alive with the lawn mower, the zombie sex, and the freaky zombie baby...funny stuff.

X

snob? meh, they just aren't appealing. Killer Klowns was just silly.

Snob...plain and simple...snob

The lawn mower scene was one of the best moments in horror history, bar none.

You guys could also focus on some of the better horror movies out there, like House on Haunted Hill or Silent Hill.

Another topic to consider would be bad sequels, like Saw III, Dungeons and Dragons 2, etc.

-b0b
(...would definitely watch that one.)

Wow you're mental if you think Silent Hill was good.  The cop was really hot though...so I'll give you that fact.

If we do bad sequels with Saw III and D&D 2 then do we have to have the originals be bad as well?  Or just sequels in general.  I think if we did it either way however, we could list anything other than T2.

X

Dude, Silent Hill rocked!

There were some decent sequels besides T2.  The Empire Strikes Back wasn't horrible.  Even Return of the Jedi was reasonably good, if you ignored the recycled plot.  The "prequels" were another story, of course.

Here are some of my least favorite sequels:

• Jaws III (and IV for that matter)
  
• National Lampoon's European Vacation (Seriously, WTF?)
  
• Caddyshack II
  
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time (Also came out a few years too late)
  
• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (Again, the original sucked, but this was a pile of crap)
  
• The Matrix Reloaded (Action was great, but the plot blew)
  
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (I don't know how this movie made any money, let alone $400m!)
  
• 2 Fast 2 Furious (The first one sucked too, but it went downhill from there)
  
• Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (Superman III was pretty ghey too)
  
• The Ring 2
  
• Son of the Mask (Who didn't see that one coming?)
  
• All of the crappy Disney sequels.
  
• Highlander 2 or Highlander Endgame
  
• Battle Royale II (Most disappointing sequel of all time)
  
• Starship Troopers 2 (There is a reason nobody ever heard of this)
  
• Neverending Story 2 and 3

If you guys get really bored, you could always have a Uwe Boll night.  I'd show up for that one!

-b0b
(...loves Uwe Boll.)

I don't really count Empire or Jedi as a sequel seeing as it's all the same story line.  Like I don't count Back To The Future 2 and 3 or Kill Bill Vol. 2 as sequels either.

Having Uwe Boll on would be scary...he use to be a pro boxer and he beats people up who make fun of him.

X
(You should show up anywho)

This week on Film Geeks we will be discussing movies made from comic books.

You too can join in the conversation not only in listening to the show live but also chatting in our chat field and even calling in live. We'll go on as long as we need to for everyone to be heard.

This week our topic is governed by four rules:

1) Had to have been a comic book or graphic novel first
2) In order to talk about a movie you must have read at least one of the comics the movie was based on and have seen the movie(s)
3) Has to be a movie released in theaters. Can't be a TV show, or a made for TV movie, or straight-to-DVD movie.
4) Can't talk about upcoming movies


So how can you join us?

Well you can either become a member of Talkshoe.com to better support us. Or you can just log on as a guest. If you become a member go to our page Sunday at 8ish PM EST here http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

To support us and be updated on our following shows click on "Follow This". Also you can rate us and even review our show at the bottom of the page.

Our blog now has all the links to get you everywhere associated with the Film Geeks here http://filmgeeksshow.blogspot.com/

We hope to see you Sunday at 8ish PM EST!

X

I think you need to throw a couple more restrictions on there, Stewie.  For instance...

• Your mother must weigh at least 250lbs.
  
• Your favorite food must be tofu.
  
• You must own and drive a Volkswagen Golf STD.
  
• You must be a Tibetan monk.

Just to keep things fair, you know!

-b0b
(...boggles.)

For you Babylon 5 fans like me...you might appreciate...and be jealous...of this:

Bruce Boxleitner!

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i209/agentx216/BruceBoxleitner.jpg

Bow, minons, bow

Check out my other autographs and famous people I met here:

http://agentx216.blogspot.com/2008/03/autographs-2.html
http://agentx216.blogspot.com/2007/06/autographs-1.html
http://agentx216.blogspot.com/2007/06/pictures-of-famous-people-ive-met.html

X

Do you think I could get Wes's mom to sign an autograph for me?

-b0b
(...ponders.)

I would seriously pay...SERIOUSLY...$20 to have her sign this picture!

X
(Seriously Serious)

...she's the one on the left...this must be a satellite photo to get her all in though.

---

The woman on the right is pretty hot, too.

-b0b
(...wants her number.)

Her number is 1-900-talk-dirty.


I mean...I heard...from a friend that...

New Episode Ready To Listen To

http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Episode 8 - Geeks In Love (Good Chick Flicks)

Quote:

(Good Chick Flicks)

Challenge...name one.

Yeah, I was trying to figure that out too.

-b0b
(...gave up.)

Well...that's what the show was about.

X
(DER!)

http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/pteq.html

This is a must have for any office.  Bob might want to hide his though.  Mexicans and preggers and what have you.

That's a whole new level of ick.

-b0b
(...better not see any of those at work.)

Quote:

(...better not see any of those at work.)

So this means bob has how many illegitimate children?

...I kid, wes' mom says he has a problem hitting the right hole.

spanky wrote on Apr 1^st, 2008 at 2:43pm:

...I kid, wes' my mom says he has a problem hitting the right not falling into the hole.

Fixed it for ya.

-b0b
(...BAM!)

Where is Wes, anyway? Every now and then he responds to the Wes' mom jokes with a big F U Bob, and then hes gone for another 6 months.

Is he still a carnie?  Maybe he's working overtime these days keeping all of the other carnies in line.

-b0b
(...frrrrreak show!)

Anyone have his cell number?  He gave me a number...like 2 years ago, so I am not sure how accurate it is...


Bob, I hate you...like a lot...seriously.

The cell phone number I have for him is:  1 (719) 235-7571

The home phone number is:  1 (719) 360-5698

His mom's phone number is:  1 (269) 279-2586

-b0b
(...points out that all of these are older than dirt.)

I have 1.719.432.5325

I think thats the latest, but unsure.

Also be sure to try 867-5309.

-b0b
(...Jeeeenny, don't change your numba!)

I have the number bob listed as his home phone.

Quick briney, when was the last time you spoke with him?  Which is the most recent number.

Dang carnies always moving around changing their number.

I aslo have his moms number: 1-900-she-ahoe
bobs moms number: speed dial 1
brineys moms number: speed dial 2
and lastly pats number: speed dial 3

What?  He works the corner just as hard as those moms!

couple months ago... late last year i think

Call him up and demand that he make an appearance!

-b0b
(...along with Shizza and ODB!)

So I finally had some time and got back into making another episode of B Movie.  This is my 4th episode and it's shorter than my other episodes.  Feel free to subscribe to my youtube page to be updated when others come out.  Any suggestions for B movies is always accepted as well.  The following will be the links to the new episode and the ones after will be a link to my page and to my other videos.

War Of The Robots
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSM6itU2QAI
Episode 4 - Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0uNBjlK8AY
Episode 4 - Part 2


http://www.youtube.com/user/agentx216
My Youtube Page

Intro video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2ZUAm3lP88
Episode 1

Killer Klowns From Outer Space
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_VPYB_qBRc
Episode 2 - Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08EO7RdBbKU
Episode 2 - Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v43fs5A9pa0
Episode 2 - Part 3

They Live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6lQPw2GfbA
Episode 3 - Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzqVs3Rv8o0
Episode 3 - Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxosPADdimY
Episode 3 - Part 3

X

If you did a show on Killer Klowns from Outer Space, you have to do a show on Dead Alive.  It's a rule.  Seriously, look it up!

-b0b
(...is sure he read it somewhere before.)

Are any of you guys planning on seeing Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed next weekend?  We should find a theater that is somewhat central to all of us and plan a road trip.

-b0b
(....ROAD TRIIIIIIP!)

I definitely want to see the movie, I wonder if there will be protests maw ha ha.

Dead Alive would be ok to do.  For a Peter Jackson flick there isn't much of a plot.  The lawnmower scene is like 5 minutes in length and there's zombie sex and crazy zombie baby.  It's a perfect example of what those campy B horror movies would be like if they were backed by Hollywood.

X

If you guys ever decide to cover retarded TV shows, here's a candidate for your first episode:


Quote:

CBS Axes Reality Show After 1 Episode NEW YORK (AP) -- The secret talents of celebrities will remain hidden. CBS is axing its new reality show "Secret Talents of the Stars" after only one episode. The first airing Wednesday had former "Star Trek" actor George Takei singing "On the Road Again." Only 4.6 million people tuned in - and thousands tuned away as the hour continued. The reality show also had Clint Black doing standup comedy and Mya tap-dancing. Danny Bonaduce is among the celebrities whose secret talents will be kept to himself. CBS officials say news programming is expected as a temporary replacement.

http://hosted.ap.org/photos/8/816d8b7d-9a13-4490-a42d-f671b52ac5dc-small.jpg

Who ever would've thought this show could fail?  Come on, can't you just feel the raw potential this has?

-b0b
(...should Torrent it.)

The more and more I learn about George Takei and his gayness and his weirdness...the weirder I feel.  After all I did watch him with his shirt off and holding a sword!

http://www.queerty.com/queer/takei-sword.jpg

Quote:

After all I did watch him with his shirt off and holding a sword!

awww, I'm afraid that makes you gay as well.

Well then I'll just have to make an appointment with your mom to change me.  Woo hoo!

I'm pretty sure that sleeping with Spanky's mom would only make you gayer.  

Video at 11.

-b0b
(...ick!)

Title: EPISODE11 - Darth Geek
Time: 04/20/2008 08:00 PM EDT
Episode Notes: This week we are covering bad guys. The movies that were made good by bad guys. As well we cover bad, bad guys.

Download it here - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

Our blog - http://filmgeeksshow.blogspot.com/

Next week's show topic - Best and worst animated films in the history of cinema.
Next, Next week's show topic - unintentional comedies

I also got contacted by a Hollywood writer and producer!

Read about it here - http://filmgeeksshow.blogspot.com/2008/04/accelade.html

X

Quote:

Next week's show topic - Best and worst animated films in the history of cinema.

Tentacle pr0n??

If it was released in theaters...you can be our star expert on that topic.

X wrote on Apr 20^th, 2008 at 9:31pm:

Best and worst animated films in the history of cinema.

Best:  Akira and Appleseed, hands down.
Worst:  Straight-to-DVD sequels to classic Disney movies.  Thanks for raping our childhood, Disney.

-b0b
(...hasn't actually watched the "worst" movies.)

X wrote on Apr 21^st, 2008 at 1:32pm:

If it was released in theaters...you can be our star expert on that topic.

Spanky, you should note that Stewie never specified "traditional" theaters.  I'm sure the $0.25 per minute truck stop "theaters" will pass muster!

-b0b
(...tentacle pr0n FTW!)

Quote:

Thanks for raping our childhood, Disney.

I am sensing a lot of hostility from you bob.  Show me on the doll where mickey mouse touched you.

Quote:

I am sensing a lot of hostility from you bob.  Show me on the doll where mickey mouse touched you.

Just make sure its not an anatomically correct mickey mouse doll or Bob will have to relive past horrors.

What do you guys think of Quarantine?  It looks like Cloverfield meets Zombie Flick, which isn't a bad thing in my book...

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/quarantine/index.html

-b0b
(...will definitely see it.)

If you would have listened to Film Geeks on Saturday, or downloaded the show...you would have already known this!

X

Join us this Sunday at 8 PM EST - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391 - for some big news that's happening with us at Film Geeks. Our little show and blog are growing each week and each month and the news we'll be announcing will show that.

We recently mentioned in our Accolade post that Patrick was recently contact by Hollywood director and writer, Josh Stolberg. I, Patrick, wrote a review for his movie "Kids In America" which you can check out here - http://filmgeeksshow.blogspot.com/2008/03/kids-in-america-patrick-movie-review.html and through an IMDB.com message this was his reply:

"Hey there,

Thanks for a nice write-up about my movie. It made me smile.

Cheers,

Josh"

So I wrote him back in almost utter shock that a Hollywood director would contact a random internet movie reviewer. I thanked him for his message and reading the post and that I was infatuated with one of the actresses in the movie, Stephanie Sherrin. In my message back I also asked him for an autograph and that I would send him something to sign. The following was his response:

"Hey bud. I think I still have a couple of posters left that were signed by the cast (including Stephanie). :-)

Just tell me where to send it to and I'll get it out to you as soon as I get a chance. I'm a little screwed for time this coming week but I should be able to do it the following.

Take care,
Josh "

So this was even more amazing to me. Then, on Friday, I received the poster. So here it is and a close up on the pictures. It's signed by all the people on the poster and Josh Stolberg as well.

http://bp2.blogger.com/_XRQEbGWucp8/SBx7awkFqrI/AAAAAAAAAHU/FY5PsXWwLWU/s400/Kids+In+America+1.jpg

http://bp0.blogger.com/_XRQEbGWucp8/SBx7bQkFqsI/AAAAAAAAAHc/LuTiHzXohh4/s400/Kids+In+America+2.jpg

X
(weee!!!)

If I watch that movie and it sucks, I'm going to hold you personally responsible.

-b0b
(...so there.)

Hey, you might not like it.  I did though and the red headed chick is HAWT!

X

Yeah, but she's a ginger!

-b0b
(...and therefore has no soul!)

She's not a ginger...gingers are icky icky...she's just a hot red head with fair skin.

X

She is a daywalker.

Once the others learn the secrets to surviving in the sunlight we are all doomed!

Some retarded four-year old on an iMac made a CGI-based film, and George Lucas decided it should be a Star Wars movie.  Check out this crap...

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809991325/video/7744414/

I don't think George Lucas or Genndy Tartakovsky have ever seen Appleseed, because they'd be embarrassed to release something as weak as that trailer.  The CG from the Jedi Knight PC games was better than that garbage, and those games are older than Wes's Mom.

Hopefully the plot won't suck as badly as the animation.  It'd better have General Grievous in it or it will be a complete waste of time.  There was way too big of a gap between Episode 2 and Episode 3, so hopefully this will fill in some of the plot holes.

-b0b
(...WEAK SAUCE.)

Its a freakin Saturday morning cartoon!!!

laaaame.

Briney, you need to play Mario Kart Wii at the next LAN party so we can make you an even gayer avatar.

-b0b
(...loves the "Wiil," but it looks kinda gay.)

steering with the nunchuk for the win! huge advantage vs someone that is playing with the stupid tilt sensor.

We play it at lunch here at work, and whoever has the nunchuk-steering seems to win. But brawl is much more fun anyway!  :)

*Snore*! WHA?! Oh sorry...I was just waiting for a decent Wii game to come out...wake me up in the next 2 to 3 years.

Star Wars lightsaber game anyone?

X

I haven't tried it with the nunchuk, but I bet you're right.  The thing I hate most about the wheel is the lack of shoulder buttons.  You've only got one button for power-sliding, and it'll slide the kart whichever way you're facing.  With the prior titles, you always had two shoulder buttons, so you'd slide in the direction of the shoulder button you pressed.

It seems like I'm always inadvertently sliding in the wrong direction, and I'm a power-sliding whore, so it really screws me up on some maps.

-b0b
(...needs two buttons, dang it!)

X wrote on May 12^th, 2008 at 1:33pm:

*Snore*! WHA?! Oh sorry...I was just waiting for a decent Wii game to come out...wake me up in the next 2 to 3 years. Star Wars lightsaber game anyone? X

You haven't played Super Smash Bros. Brawl or Zelda: Twilight Princess yet, have you?

-b0b
(...or Metroid Prime 3.  Or Wario Ware.  Or Mario Kart.)

No...because I play...good games.   Not rehashed games boxed to appease people before they riot for no original content.

X

Hey, I've played games from all three current gen consoles, as well as virtually every major title for the PC.  I like fresh, new, creative content too, but sometimes the old stuff is a heck of a lot of fun.

Since we're talking about Mario Kart Wii, let's use that as an example.  I rarely buy games on the release day unless I really, really want to play them.  Final Fantasy 12 and Super Smash Bros. Brawl are two such examples.  Mario Kart Wii also made the list, since I'm a big fan of the series.  I can't tell you how many hundreds of hours I spent playing the original Super Mario Kart for the SNES with my friends.

Mario Kart Wii is a ton of fun, missing shoulder buttons not withstanding.  Sure, the basic gameplay remains unchanged from the prior titles, but in this case its not a bad thing.  Nintendo has gone out of their way to polish up the latest title by adding tons of new (and old!) maps with lots of innovative quirks, and they've introduced several new gameplay elements (like performing "tricks" for speed boosts), a bunch of new weapons, a couple new and really fun battle modes, and a very impressive online multiplayer system.

Even considering that, its still Mario Kart at heart, and I'm cool with that.  Honestly, I'm glad Nintendo hasn't strayed too far from the SNES roots of the series, because it's hella fun.  Nothing sucks more balls than sitting down to play a highly anticipated sequel only to find that the developers have screwed the pooch by trying to be unique.

Xenosaga II, I'm looking at you!

-b0b
(...hates crappy sequels.)

@ X:

MGS? RTS games? Shooters? Pretty much any game you like is rehashed from a formula that has worked before. Movies too. We still see them, still play them, and still hope for original titles. For every 1 or 2 awesome original games, theres 5 awesome rehashed games with proven gameplay and just enough new changes to make it fresh.

Thank you for making my point Briney!

X

Sorry pat mario kart wii is a damn good game, copy or not.  The only thing I don't like about the wii is about 35-45 minutes into play I lose interest and don't feel like playing with that damn controller anymore.

But I only play when I head up to detroit so not that big of a problem for me.  :)

Wow, Stewie, even Spanky sided against you!  That's gotta hurt!

-b0b
(...is teh winnar!)

There's nothing new under the sun, so in that respect, I have to agree with Master P.

It's the same with music...there are only 7 distinct pitches*, but look at what we've been able to come up with in the past few centuries.

However, a large part of creativity/originality is being able to make those tried and true formulas enjoyable again by coming up with an innovative way to present the material.

So in conclusion...I guess I don't really have a conclusion, and I guess I didn't really take a side. Just call me Switzerland!





*Well, in the Western Hemisphere anyway. I could go off on a tangent about Eastern microtones, but I'll hold back on the music geekery...

Like having Spanky disagree with me is some big slight!

He he

X

X wrote on May 12^th, 2008 at 9:35pm:

Like having Spanky disagree with me is some big slight!

Yeah, that's true.

-b0b
(...zing!)

Pfft, my opinion is all that matters!

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/monstercamp/trailer/

A LARPing movie!!!!

NERDS!

X

http://www.dumptrumpet.com/?v=4743

This is pretty cool.  It's the ACME Catalog for every ACME product from the cartoons.

Geeked Out!

X

Somebody has wayyyy too much time on their hands!

-b0b
(...remembers many of them.)

Patrick, you're single-handedly turning the Geek News thread into Fark.

(It's still fun though!)

Aww you say the nicest things.

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1394377

46 Laws Of Anime

Bahahaha, that's so true!  I think every space-themed anime has at least one explosion in outer space every five minutes!

-b0b
(....kaPOW!)

I have a favor to ask of you guys.  I think you folks know that Briney and I have a podcast and movie blog.  Well we've just started getting in contact with movie studios to review films.  If you could help us out by sending some people who like movies the following link and even doing it yourself it could really help us out.

http://filmgeeksshow.blogspot.com/2008/05/support-film-geeks.html

If you don't want to do it, send it out, or don't even care...no worries.  It'd would help us to get more traffic to our show/site, listeners to our show, and hopefully more interaction with movie studios.

Thanks

X

X wrote on May 15^th, 2008 at 7:09pm:

If you don't want to do it, send it out, or don't even care...no worries.

I dunno, that's an awful lot of effort you're asking out of us.

-b0b
(...what's in it for me?)

Possible free DVDs...and umm...I will give everyone one cookie of their choosing...or 10 minute make out session with me...or Briney (my choice).

X

How many people do I need to sign up to get both of you?

-b0b
(...winks.)

3.1415 at least he he

X

If you're going to be post Pi, do it right...

3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816406286208998628034825342117067982148086513282306647093844609550582231725359408128481117450284102701938521105559644622948954930381964428810975665933446128475648233786783165271201909145648566923460348610454326648213393607260249141273724587006606315588174881520920962829254091715364367892590360011330530548820466521384146951941511609433057270365759591953092186117381932611793105118548074462379962749567351885752724891227938183011949129833673362440656643086021394946395224737190702179860943702770539217176293176752384674818467669405132000568127145263560827785771342757789609173637178721468440901224953430146549585371050792279689258923542019956112129021960864034418159813629774771309960518707211349999998372978049951059731732816096318595024459455346908302642522308253344685035261931188171010003137838752886587533208381420617177669147303598253490428755468731159562863882353787593751957781857780532171226806613001927876611195909216420198938095257201065485863278865936153381827968230301952035301852968995773622599413891249721775283479131515574857242454150695950829533116861727855889075098381754637464939319255060400927701671139009848824012858361603563707660104710181942955596198946767837449448255379774726847104047534646208046684259069491293313677028989152104752162056966024058038150193511253382430035587640247496473263914199272604269922796782354781636009341721641219924586315030286182974555706749838505494588586926995690927210797509302955321165344987202755960236480665499119881834797753566369807426542527862551818417574672890977772793800081647060016145249192173217214772350141441973568548161361157352552133475741849468438523323907394143334547762416862518983569485562099219222184272550254256887671790494601653466804988627232791786085784383827967976681454100953883786360950680064225125205117392984896084128488626945604241965285022210661186306744278622039194945047123713786960956364371917287467764657573962413890865832645995813390478027590099465764078951269468398352595709825822620522489407726719478268482601476990902640136394437455305068203496252451749399651431429809190659250937221696461515709858387410597885959772975498930161753928468138268683868942774155991855925245953959431049972524680845987273644695848653836736222626099124608051243884390451244136549762780797715691435997700129616089441694868555848406353422072225828488648158456028506016842739452267467678895252138522549954666727823986456596116354886230577456498035593634568174324112515076069479451096596094025228879710893145669136867228748940560101503308617928680920874760917824938589009714909675985261365549781893129784821682998948722658804857564014270477555132379641451523746234364542858444795265867821051141354735739523113427166102135969536231442952484937187110145765403590279934403742007310578539062198387447808478489683321445713868751943506430218453191048481005370614680674919278191197939952061419663428754440643745123718192179998391015919561814675142691239748940907186494231961567945208095146550225231603881930142093762137855956638937787083039069792077346722182562599661501421503068038447734549202605414665925201497442850732518666002132434088190710486331734649651453905796268561005508106658796998163574736384052571459102897064140110971206280439039759515677157700420337869936007230558763176359421873125147120532928191826186125867321579198414848829164470609575270695722091756711672291098169091528017350671274858322287183520935396572512108357915136988209144421006751033467110314126711136990865851639831501970165151168517143765761835155650884909989859982387345528331635507647918535893226185489632132933089857064204675259070915481416549859461637180270981994309924488957571282890592323326097299712084433573265489382391193259746366730583604142813883032038249037589852437441702913276561809377344403070746921120191302033038019762110110044929321516084244485963766983895228684783123552658213144957685726243344189303968642624341077322697802807318915441101044682325271620105265227211166039666557309254711055785376346682065310989652691862056476931257058635662018558100729360659876486117910453348850346113657686753249441668039626579787718556084552965412665408530614344431858676975145661406800700237877659134401712749470420562230538994561314071127000407854733269939081454664645880797270826683063432858785698305235808933065757406795457163775254202114955761581400250126228594130216471550979259230990796547376125517656751357517829666454779174501129961489030463994713296210734043751895735961458901938971311179042978285647503203198691514028708085990480109412147221317947647772622414254854540332157185306142288137585043063321751829798662237172159160771669254748738986654949450114654062843366393790039769265672146385306736096571209180763832716641627488880078692560290228472104031721186082041900042296617119637792133757511495950156604963186294726547364252308177036751590673502350728354056704038674351362222477158915049530984448933309634087807693259939780541934144737744184263129860809988868741326047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-b0b
(...hit the character limit for the first time ever.)

you forgot at the end "..."

YOU ARE IN ERROR!!! PI HAS NO END!!!!

X

There, fixed it.  I hope you're happy, because I had to delete three characters of Pi to put that ellipsis in!

-b0b
(...bum!)

Quote:

Possible free DVDs...and umm...I will give everyone one cookie of their choosing...or 10 minute make out session with me...or Briney (my choice).

Well lets see, bob is big enough to be 2 people plus me...now all I have to do is find 0.1415... more people and I get a free make out session with pat!

I have a plan!  I have a chainsaw...who wants to make a dollar?!

spanky wrote on May 16^th, 2008 at 12:20pm:

Well lets see, bob is big enough to be 2 people plus me...

Just imagine what Wes could do for us.  Screw π, we could have freakin' ∞!


Quote:

now all I have to do is find 0.1415... more people and I get a free make out session with pat!

Dang it, Spanky, what did I just say about abbreviating π!

-b0b
(...ni!)

New X files movie.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809953361/video/7831464

Stick wrote on May 19^th, 2008 at 9:03am:

New X files movie. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809953361/video/7831464

DUUUUUUUUPE!

-b0b
(...DUPE DUPE DUPE!)

---

Quote:

Saying goodbye to batteries Researchers at MIT are developing a new device that has the potential to hold as much energy as a conventional battery but could be recharged in seconds rather than hours, would last almost indefinitely, and won’t mind the cold. The device could prove the first economically viable alternative to today’s battery. It could one day yield a practical all-electric car and provide electricity storage critical to using intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind. Just about everything that runs on batteries—cell phones, laptops, electric cars, missile-guidance systems—would be improved with a better energy-storage device. The battery continues to improve, but its basic concept hasn’t changed much since it was developed by Alessandro Volta in the 19th century. Professor Joel E. Schindall of electrical engineering and computer science believes that what’s needed is a novel way of thinking. “I’m intrigued with the idea of using nanotechnology to transform ‘discarded’ technologies into the technology of choice,” he said. Now, using nanotube structures, he and his colleagues Professor John Kassakian and graduate student Riccardo Signorelli at MIT’s Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems are making a “synthetic battery” based on the ultracapacitor, an energy-storage device that’s been around since the 1960s and is used in many electronic devices to provide quick bursts of energy. Conventional batteries store energy by using chemical reactions to trap ions that move from one electrode to the other. Batteries have a huge storage capacity, but—because of the chemistry involved—electricity can go in and out only so fast, and some is lost as heat. In contrast, capacitors store energy in an electric field. The absence of chemical reactions has advantages. Capacitors can deliver energy quickly, and they can be charged up in minutes or even seconds. They can withstand temperature changes, shocks, and vibrations. And they can be recharged hundreds of thousands of times before they wear out. They’re thus much easier on the environment than today’s batteries, which must be tossed out after a few hundred charges. But their capacity for storing energy is limited. The best version is the ultracapacitor. It contains an electrolyte, a fluid containing positive and negative ions; and its electrodes are coated with activated carbon, which is extremely porous and so provides a large surface area for storing the ions. Nevertheless, today’s commercial ultracapacitors store around 25 times less energy than a similarly sized lithium-ion battery can. As a result, they need to be much larger than batteries to hold the same charge. Novel nanostructure While ultracapacitors have many uses, they can’t compete with batteries when it comes to storing lots of electrical energy, noted Schindall. But a few years ago he read a journal article about vertically aligned nanotubes and began to wonder what would happen if he replaced the activated carbon with nanotubes. While the pores in activated carbon are irregular in size and shape, a nanotube “forest” might provide straight pathways so the ions could come in and out easily and pack together neatly—like sucking up paint with a paintbrush rather than a sponge. Schindall and his colleagues have now developed a technique for growing nanotubes on an aluminum electrode. They put down droplets of a catalyst on the surface and pass a hydrocarbon gas over it at high temperature. The droplets grab carbon atoms out of the gas, and carbon nanotubes start growing upward, just like hair. Within ten minutes the surface is covered with millions of vertically aligned nanotubes, each one a thirty-thousandth the diameter of a human hair and 50,000 times as long as they are wide. By controlling the size and spacing of the droplets, they have made samples in which the nanotubes are just two ion-diameters apart—ideal for dense ion packing. Detailed simulations suggest that their new device will work well. Indeed, the predicted energy-storage capacity is comparable to that of a lithium battery of equivalent dimensions—a similarity that they realized is no coincidence. The lattice structure of their device provides roughly the same storage space for ions as a battery does. "When we were done, we realized that it wasn’t really a capacitor anymore," Schindall said. "Our adapted ultracapacitor actually mimics the molecular lattice of a battery but without the chemical reactions. It’s sort of a synthetic battery." The device could be made in all the sizes needed to replace today’s commercially available batteries—at roughly the same cost. Schindall expects to have a working prototype finished in the next few months. If all goes well, the new nanotube-enhanced ultracapacitor could be on the market within five to ten years.

If I decided to take the research path instead of doing an Actual Job™ for a living, I think carbon nanotubes would be my topic of choice.  Every few months, an article comes out that shows how they're being using for some crazy new task.  The space elevator, super-strong elastics, and now batteries.  What's next?

-b0b
(...mecha-Barbara Streisand!)

I'm sure all the battery folks and oil companies and anyone else that would lose big on this aren't gonna let this happen easily. Or they will go the way of biofuels and hybrids and slowly introduce them into the market at a snails pace.

That's the nice thing about this being researched by a publicly-funded university instead of a private company.  It's a lot harder to buy out and cover up technology being developed in this method.

Besides, I think anyone with any economic sense would realize how much a discovery like this would be worth if they could make produce it for a reasonable price.  In today's environment with crude oil prices going through the rough, this kind of discovery could be a veritable goldmine.

-b0b
(...can hope, right?)

Two more autographs to add to my collection!

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i209/agentx216/DanCastellaneta1.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i209/agentx216/DanCastellaneta2.jpg

What did you guys think of some of the movies in theaters lately?  I saw Iron Man, Speed Racer, and just the other night Indiana Jones.  

Iron Man and Indiana Jones was good, but speed racer I thought I was high watching it.

I started my summer blockbuster watching last night with Iron Man and absolutely loved it. Which one do you think is worth seeing next?

Iron Man was absolutely incredible.  As you guys know, I've never been a fan of comic books and haven't really fallen for the comic book-inspired movies, but Iron Man broke the freakin' mold.  The last line in the movie was worth the entire price of admission.

I will definitely be seeing Indiana Jones soon, but I keep hearing that it was less-than-stellar.

-b0b
(...would like to see Iron Man again before it leaves the box office.)

Last line by Tony Stark or post-credit last line?

X
(Woo did bob not know to stay for the whole thing?!)

The last line by Tony Stark.

-b0b
(...did stay through the credits, actually.  So NYAAA!)

Ironman was great.  Indiana Jones was average.  The main downfall to the movie is the bad guys were russians instead of nazis.  Indiana fights nazis damn it!

...and they tried to make him out to be too much like james bond.  Indiana isn't a spy, he is a teacher.  Anywho, good movie if you don't care about it being like the rest of the series.

spanky wrote on May 27^th, 2008 at 9:02am:

The main downfall to the movie is the bad guys were russians instead of nazis.

Russians are so 80's.  I want to see more Nazis get the Indiana treatment, dang it!

-b0b
(...still hasn't seen it.   :()

Is anyone planning on seeing The Happening this weekend?  I know the rest of you aren't huge M. Night Shyamalan fans, but I've always enjoyed his movies and this one looks incredible.

We can meet up and catch the flick together if any of you guys are interested.

-b0b
(...is thinking Friday maybe?)

Spoiler!!!

The happening is about when bob started just walking around naked...now all those people killing themselves makes sense...

Started walking around nekkid?  Heck, I've been doing that for yeeeeears!


-b0b
(...stretch, 1, 2, 3!)

http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/FirefoxIE.jpg

Firefox 3 is out!  Get it here.

-b0b
(...bam!)

I have FF3 (not to be confused with FFIII/VI) downloaded and ready to go, but before I install it, could you tell me what you think of it? What are your favorite new features? What is it lacking?

(I should probably look into its compatibility with my favorite extensions too...)

I've already noticed that the AJAX animations in my website are a lot smoother.  Things are rendered correctly.

The URL suggestions while I type will be something I have to get used to.

The zooming is pretty neat(CTRL + scroll wheel)

What website?  We demand you show us proof!


-b0b
(...wonders if Briney has updated his website, for that matter?)

Quote:

(...wonders if Briney has updated his website, for that matter?)

Briney just updated his site in 2002 so get off his back!

I guess I shouldn't complain.  I spent a whopping 45 minutes updating my site for the wedding, and haven't touched it since.

-b0b
(...probably should have put a bit more effort into it.)

Personally I'm a big fan of the new browser.  It takes some time to get use to, but it's a huge step up in speed.  It also passes the ACID 2 test.

Acid Burn?!


(...Crash Override)

Lord Nikon!  Zero Cool!  Phantom Phreak!  

Watch out for The Plague!

-b0b
(...is a Cereal Killer.)

My website requires a login and it's law enforcement personnel only.  If X's department gets the software suite we developed then he may be using the website.   8-)

I can show you the login screen if you really want to see it.  :P

I work in IT security, does that count?   [smiley=TeddyBear.gif]

I thought you were referring to a personal site.  Oops!

-b0b
(...lunch time!)

Ya Bob, you never did post anything in the pictures link of your wedding site.  You should scan all those photos from the tables people took and let's see what drunken debauchery we caught!

X

Quote:

let's see what drunken debauchery we caught!

None from me I had to drive home.  I asked bob if he would give me a ride home and that greedy bastard said no.  Like he had other plans...

yea seriously we took some fun photos! post em bob!

Honestly, I'm not sure if those cameras have even been developed yet.  We haven't even ordered our official photos yet, for that matter.

The only pictures I've seen so far are the previews from the photographer and some shots from attendees who used their own cameras.

-b0b
(...should probably get around to ordering/developing pics eventually.)

You better get around to doing that.  You don't want to have to divorce just to get married again.

Meh, I'll just marry her twice.  I wonder if I'd get charged with polygamy for having two concurrent marriages to the same woman?

-b0b
(...ponders.)

From one of my favorite websites, The Daily WTF...

http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/The-Stalled-Server-Room.aspx

http://img.thedailywtf.com/images/200806/stallserver.jpg

The server room for this company can only be accessed through the handicap stall in the women's bathroom.  How crazy is that?  Follow the link for more hilarity!

-b0b
(...has worked in some inconvenient IT closets before, but wow!)

Check out this uber-quality Ethernet cable on Amazon...  $500!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41VDnWJV9BL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AKDL1-Dedicated-Link-Cable/dp/B000I1X6PM/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=musical-instruments&qid=1215015598&sr=8-1

The reviews are absolutely hilarious!



Quote:

A caution to people buying these: if you do not follow the "directional markings" on the cables, your music will play backwards. Please check that before mentioning it in your reviews. I was disappointed. I consider myself an audiophile - I regularly spend over $1000 on cables to get the ultimate sound. I keep my music-listening room in a Faraday cage to prevent any interference that could alter my music-listening experience. Sending any signal down ordinary copper can degrade the signal considerably. While ordinary listeners might not notice, to somebody with even a rudimentary knowledge of sound, the artifacts are glaring. Denon should have used silver wiring (hermetically sealed inside the rubber sheath to prevent any tarnishing, of course), which has a significantly higher conductivity than copper. Furthermore, Denon needs to treat the wires they use in the cable with a polarity inductor to ensure minimal phase variance. Needless to say, I returned the cable and wrote an angry letter to the so-called engineers at Denon.

Quote:

If I could use a rusty boxcutter to carve a new orifice in my body that's compatible with this link cable, I would already be doing it. I can just imagine the pure musical goodness that would flow through this cable into the wound and fill me completely -- like white, holy light. Holding this cable in my hands actually makes me feel that much closer to the Lord Jesus Christ. I only make $6.25/hr at Jack In The Box, but I saved up for three months so I could have this cable. It sits in a shrine I constructed next to my futon in Mother's basement. I only gave it four stars in my review because I can't find music that is worthy enough to flow through this utterly perfect interconnect.

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This cable does allow for incredible sound. However, I believe a possible side-effect from the use of this cable has not been noted by the manufacturers. Upon playing Prince's "Kiss" my speakers ... how should I put this? ... Well, I think they ... climaxed. That's not the end of it. Oh, no. My stereo system is now sentient. And horny. Not one of my other appliances has warranty coverage for ... well ... the kind of 'damage' they are currently receiving. I'd just unplug the darn thing, but it's developed an ability to arc pure energy when it feels threatened. It took two scorched electricians to figure that out. And, yes, I've already tried flipping the breaker switch. Doesn't work. The power won't go out. I don't understand how the hell it pulled that off. Please, if anyone has any tips or advice, I'm getting desperate. My living room is some kind of sick, mechanical sex den and it's really freaking me out.

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'Red Dawn' redo lands director, scribe MGM will remake the 1984 action drama By Jay A. Fernandez and Borys Kit July 9, 2008, 12:00 AM ET hr/photos/stylus/32309-Red-Dawn-341x182.jpg "Red Dawn" "Red Dawn" will be redone. Screenwriter Carl Ellsworth has been hired to recraft the ultimate homeland invasion story about a new generation of besieged high schoolers. Dan Bradley, a second unit director and/or stunt coordinator on "The Bourne Ultimatum," "Spider-Man 3" and the forthcoming "Quantum of Solace," will move into the director's chair for the update. Contrafilm's Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson will produce. MGM toppers Harry Sloan and Mary Parent announced the remake -- along with a big-budget rebuild of "RoboCop," which director Darren Aronofsky among others has recently been in to discuss -- in May at the Festival de Cannes. As the studio regroups, its executives have realized that the strong MGM library has numerous classic and cult properties it can exploit for a new audience. "The tone is going to be very intense, very much keeping in mind the post-9/11 world that we're in," says Ellsworth, who was 11 when the original was released. "As 'Red Dawn' scared the heck out of people in 1984, we feel that the world is kind of already filled with a lot of paranoia and unease, so why not scare the hell out of people again?" Ellsworth will be working from a story written by Jeremy Passmore. Vincent Newman ("A Man Apart") is also acting in a producer capacity. The original "Dawn" was the Cold War brainchild of writer-director John Milius, who devised a World War III invasion of America by the Soviets and Cubans. The film followed the scrappy insurgency of a group of Midwestern teenagers who take on their high school mascot name -- "Wolverines!" -- as a rallying cry of resistance. The 1984 action drama was the first film released in theaters with the newly devised PG-13 rating because of its intense subject matter and violent content. Ellsworth, who is repped by ICM and the Shuman Co., most recently handed in an adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's comics series "Y: The Last Man" to New Line. He also wrote "Red Eye," co-wrote "Disturbia" and rewrote the screenplay for the "Last House on the Left" remake, produced by the original film's writer-director, Wes Craven. Rogue Pictures will release it early next year. Bradley also is repped by ICM.

OMG!  Red Dawn!  I'm seriously impressed that Red Dawn is getting a remake!

-b0b
(...is spent.)

You know this is going to be crap because it's going to be a full blown out production.  I miss the campy-ness of the 80s :-(

X

I'm sure much of the survivalist mentality of the movie will be gone, too.  Self-preparedness is a foreign concept these days.

-b0b
(...doesn't think the average movie-goer would "get it.")

Red Dawn is the movie with the small village not knowing that America had been invaded by the russians or some shit right?

I always thought that movie was kind of retarded....all me crazy.

The Russians and Mexicans invaded the United States through the Mexican border.  The story takes place in Calumet, Colorado.  The occupying army pushed straight up to Colorado and airdropped a bunch of paratroopers, along with a few tanks and other technicals (APCs, transports, etc).

The city was completely overtaken without much of a fight, so they were quite aware that an invasion had taken place.


-b0b
(...watches Red Dawn at least twice a year while cleaning his AK.)

I can just see it.

Bob has his oil and cleaning kit out and he's checking the load speed and when Patrick Swayze stands up and shouts "WOLVERINES!!!" Bob gets so worked up he ends up punching a few holes in the ceiling while yelling the same.

X

That's entirely untrue.  I would never shoot a hole in the ceiling.

Ammo is too expensive to waste these days!


-b0b
(...whines.)

And then b0b would have to get on the roof to fix the hole.  Do you think a house could handle that kind of weight?

Considering how many leaves, tree limbs, and other debris is up there, I think I won't have much to worry about.

-b0b
(...should probably clean that off at some point.)

Your roof has load bearing leaves?

No, but the crap on the roof probably weighs almost as much as I do.

Theoretically.


-b0b
(...terminal fat-ocity and all that jazz.)

http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/news/2008/07/portfolio_0711


Quote:

Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, violated federal guidelines when it blocked and degraded Web traffic, the head of the Federal Communications Commission will announce Friday. The sanctions would be the first time the commission has come down on an internet provider for denying consumers the right to open, unfettered internet access. It may set a precedent on how the federal government oversees management of internet traffic flows in the future. Last fall, Comcast reluctantly acknowledged that it had temporarily blocked certain peer-to-peer traffic (file sharing). The cable giant called its actions "reasonable network management." But consumer rights groups and internet experts accused the company of violating the F.C.C.'s 2005 "Internet Policy Statement," which established four principles intended to guarantee consumers unfettered access to all legal Web content, applications, and services. The chairman of the F.C.C., Kevin Martin, now agrees. "The commission has adopted a set of principles that protects consumers' access to the internet," he told the Associated Press on Thursday night. "We found that Comcast's actions in this instance violated our principles."

I'm still really sad that we had to get the federal govt involved in this stuff too.  Whatever happen to class action lawsuits?

X

That's really unexpected, and incredibly welcome.  I didn't expect a Bush administration FCC to get in the way of big business like that.

-b0b
(...bravo!)

If you plan to watch The Dark Knight this week, you may see this guy:

http://tinyurl.com/687rnb

My cousin Vince was an extra in the movie. Since there wasn't a lot of diversity in the crowd, they digitally cloned him, so he's kind of like Agent Smith, except that he's a Gotham City police officer and he's Filipino.

/I live my Geek news vicariously =)

P.S. Would anybody like to catch a show in Kalamazoo? Let me know!

I'd really like to catch Batman at the Rave theater...that theater is amazing.

X

The Rave is wonderful indeed! What days/times would work best for you guys?

I have to find a digital theatre here in Florida to go see Dark Knight at...

I'm going to see Journey to the Center of the Earth today....mostly cuz its free....

I've got some friends that are planning to catch Dark Knight at the Rave on Friday night.  Maybe we could all join up?

-b0b
(...thinks it would rock.)

I'm all about it! Haven't seen you in forever, plus I still have yet to meet your lovely wife. =)

Friday 7.18 show times are noon,  3:30pm,  7:00pm, & 10:30pm, and the feature length is 2.5 hours.

I believe X is working a strange schedule over the weekend...would you be able to make any of those?

I'm in.

Quote:

plus I still have yet to meet your lovely wife.

If you haven't met her how do you know she's lovely?

Yes I do indeed work a weird few days and I would be sacrificing a lot of time for the movie.  I only have 7.15 hours, literally in between a 12.25 hour shift and a 24.25 hour shift.  So the only time I can do it is between 6am and 2 pm. and that means I can't make any of them.  Sorry.

X

We could meet up at my new place.  I live in kzoo.

??

And we can LAN after that....  :-/

Directions to my new place coming from south.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=14243947403150343079,42.195034,-85.646274%3B4233909744844572326,42.243364,-85.642240&saddr=42.192758,-85.64611&daddr=Raborn+Ct+%4042.243364,+-85.642240&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=0&sz=15&sll=42.195142,-85.642848&sspn=0.017741,0.044289&ie=UTF8&ll=42.239003,-85.633535&spn=0.035458,0.088577&z=14

Wow pat.  Way to be a buzzkill.

...Least you are getting some nice overtime.

A 24 hour shift?  Wow!  Are you covering for someone, or is that a typical shift?

I've only pulled a few 24+ hour days in my entire career, and that's been caused by "oh poo!" moments.

-b0b
(...sux0r!)

shoot i might come over for this, would be fun!

X wrote on Jul 14^th, 2008 at 1:59pm:

If you haven't met her how do you know she's lovely?

Good point as usual, but I'm allowed to make valid hypotheses, am I not? We'll miss you, though if I like the movie enough, I might be up for seeing it again when you're free if you'd like some company. It's not like I haven't survived multiple viewings of lesser films, after all! (The Adventures of Hercules *cough*)

For the rest of you...7:30 or 10:30 show? Should we buy tickets in advance? Would anybody be willing to pick me up at WMU so I don't have to walk a mile down Rose St. from the scary bus station at night in order to meet you guys at the theater? What is the meaning of life? Aren't questions fun?

Briney, I hope you can come! It''d be great to see you again. Just make sure you have enough gas to get here. =)

Ya, I'm covering for a guy who just left and I trade for someone so they could get a bit longer vacation.  It's even funnier because this is what will happen:

My week up until Thurs is my typical 10pm to 6am

After getting off at 6am on Thurs I come in and do a double shift

Then I leave for 7.75 hours and come back and do my 24 hour shift (really 24.25 hours)

Then I get 7.75 hours off and then I come in and do another double shift.

The sad thing is...I'm still trying to find a way to see Batman before Sunday night he he...I'm going to be soooo loopy...so if anyone feel lonely and need someone to talk to, especially 10pm to 6am...I am free and am trying not to fall asleep.

Of course that goes for most days....269-718-9204

Weeeeee /crash

X

Having met Meredith like once, she seemed like a pretty lovely person.  But then again, she'd have to be to actualy enjoy the company of b0b enough to marry him......

Just saying.

Hey Patsy, where the hell you working now?  Graveyard shift? Yeesh.

Weee...I now do not have such a loaded schedule.  My boss took pitty on me and actually changed some stuff around.  Now I only work one double shift and that's next week...and it might change.

I'll be going to a show earlier in the day so I am not late for work.  If anyone wants to meet me up there, get in touch with me and we'll figure out a time, maybe in the evening so I can just go to work straight from the theater.

Ya, Wes, I'm working 3rd shift at MPI Research in Mattwan.  The good thing about 3rd is that you don't have to deal with too many stupid people, you get a $1 more per hour, and I'm working with just one other person or myself...that means I've been going through books like you go through twinkies!

X

X wrote on Jul 15^th, 2008 at 12:12pm:

...that means I've been going through books like you go through twinkies!

I call BS.  A million monkeys pounding on a million typewriters couldn't write enough text to match that pace!

-b0b
(...bam!)

Ah...but I use the word "like" meaning it's a simile and not a 1:1 correlation of Twinkies to books

Btw, the Taste of Kalamazoo will be in town this weekend, and that could be fun to hit up before or after the movie =)

Hey for those of you that are still college students.  The Rave theater no longer gives you the 5 dollar deal that includes the ticket, popcorn and pop.  

Like bob mentioned earlier Batman comes out Friday night.  If you want to go see it you might want to pre-order a ticket.  

Go to https://www.movietickets.com/purchase.asp?perf_id=559094915 to get the ticket.  

Does anyone have a time that they would prefer?

But they still have $5 tickets, just no free popcorn and pop.  One thing they did that also torques my chain is they only give free refills on large popcorn and pop so I always bring my own pop.  Also a small popcorn ((3/4) average store bought bag) is $4.

Being a college student has nothing to do with it.  I still have my ID so as far as they know...


Yeah I will milk this college student thing for as long as I can.

That's the great thing about being married - women carry purses.  Meredith could smuggle a small child into the theater with her mega-purse.

The last time we went to watch a movie with a bunch of friends, she smuggled in a large bag of Skittles, some Twizzlers, a box or Oreos, some beef jerky, and at least three 20oz bottles of pop.


-b0b
(...doesn't need any steeenkin' discount.)

Friday show times:
Noon,  12:45pm,  1:30pm,  2:45pm,  3:30pm,  4:15pm,  5:00pm,  7:00pm,  7:45pm,  8:30pm,  9:15pm,  9:45pm,  10:30pm,  11:15pm

Somebody pick one so we can make sure to get tickets =)

Dud b0b I got you beat.

A good friend of mine in Colorado named Yager (its his last name) is a BIG dude, I'm talking like 400 pounds.

Using nothing but his pockets and god only knows what else.  He snuck a foot long sub from Subway, a back of Dorritos and a 2 liter into a movie with us......

Dude is pro.

A teaser trailer for Terminator Salvation is out...

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810025211/trailer

It's not much, but it'll do.


-b0b
(...looks for the high-res version.)

If you guys are still up for the movie.  I think we decided that we were going to go at 9:15pm at the Rave.  Tickets are 9 dollars if you buy them online.  Cheaper at the door I believe, but you might not get a seat.  Just be careful.  You can't prove that you go to college online either.  

Last time I checked the movie had a 92% percent on rottentomatoes.com.  From what I hear, the movie is amazing

http://www.yahoo.com/s/920027

Batman was amazing.  You can check out Briney and myself's take on it on Sunday on our Film Geeks show (woo hoo PLUG!) - http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/14391

X

Yeah, the joker was one crazy BAMF...sorry to use such strong letters.

/Shields a child's eyes

THEY WERE IN ALL CAPS!  OH WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!

X

Quote:

Randy Pausch, Author of 'Last Lecture,' Dies at 47 July 25, 2008 1:53 p.m. Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist whose "last lecture" about facing terminal cancer became an international sensation and a best-selling book, died Friday. He was 47 years old. University spokeswoman Anne Watzman said Mr. Pausch died early Friday at his home in Virginia. Mr. Pausch was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer in September 2006. His popular last lecture at Carnegie Mellon in September 2007 garnered international attention and was viewed by millions on the Internet. In it, Mr. Pausch celebrated living the life he had always dreamed of instead of concentrating on impending death. The lecture was videotaped and footage began spreading across thousands of Web sites. (The full talk can now be seen at thelastlecture.com.) Soon, he was receiving emails from all over the world. The book "The Last Lecture, " written with The Wall Street Journal's Jeffrey Zaslow, topped best-seller lists after its publication in April. Mr. Zaslow wrote in the Journal in May, "I almost didn't go to Pittsburgh to see him. The plane fare from my home in Detroit was a hefty $850, and my editors said that if I wanted, I could just do a phone interview with him after the talk, asking him how it went. In the end, I sensed that I shouldn't miss seeing his lecture in person, and so I drove the 300 miles to Pittsburgh. … Like others in the room that day, I knew I was seeing something extraordinary. I hoped I could put together a compelling story, but I had no expectations beyond that." The Last Lecture In the September 2007 lecture, Mr. Pausch began by showing his CT scans, revealing 10 tumors on his liver. But after that, he talked about living. If anyone expected him to be morose, he said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you." He then dropped to the floor and did one-handed pushups. Clicking through photos of himself as a boy, he talked about his childhood dreams: to win giant stuffed animals at carnivals, to walk in zero gravity, to design Disney rides, to write a World Book entry. By adulthood, he had achieved each goal. As proof, he had students carry out all the huge stuffed animals he'd won in his life, which he gave to audience members. After all, he doesn't need them anymore. He paid tribute to his techie background. "I've experienced a deathbed conversion," he said, smiling. "I just bought a Macintosh." Flashing his rejection letters on the screen, he talked about setbacks in his career, repeating: "Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want things." He encouraged us to be patient with others. "Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you." After showing photos of his childhood bedroom, decorated with mathematical notations he'd drawn on the walls, he said: "If your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let 'em do it." While displaying photos of his bosses and students over the years, he said that helping others fulfill their dreams is even more fun than achieving your own. He talked of requiring his students to create videogames without sex and violence. "You'd be surprised how many 19-year-old boys run out of ideas when you take those possibilities away," he said, but they all rose to the challenge.

A geek amongst geeks.  God speed, Mr. Pausch - you will be missed.


-b0b
(...)

Quote:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080820-fcc-order-scolds-comcast-for-changing-story-on-p2p-blocking.html Comcast has 30 days to disclose the details of its "unreasonable network management practices" to the Federal Communications Commission, the agency warned Wednesday morning as it released its full, 67-page Order. As FCC Chair Kevin Martin said it would, the Commission's Order rejects the ISP giant's insistence that its handling of peer-to-peer applications was necessary. "We conclude that the company's discriminatory and arbitrary practice unduly squelches the dynamic benefits of an open and accessible Internet," the agency declares. In addition, the company's "failure" to publicly reveal its true practices has "compounded the harm," the Commission says. Beyond the 30-day deadline, Comcast must send the FCC a plan explaining how it will mend its ways by the end of the year, and do so by then. It must also disclose what the company's new network management system will look like. Today's Order is the follow-up document to the FCC's three-to-two decision against Comcast, announced on August 1. Although the Commission clearly throws the book at Comcast regarding P2P throttling, and warns the company that noncompliance will have legal consequences, the agency issues no fine against the ISP. And at least one public interest group says the FCC has given the company too much time to change. But there is a radical aspect to this document, which literally aligns the Republican-led Commission with the net neutrality movement. "We invite Free Press [a complainant in the case] and other members of the public to keep a watchful eye on Comcast as it carries out this relief," the Commission concludes. "Using the information provided by Comcast, pursuant to this Order, as well as information submitted by the public, we will closely monitor the company's network management practices."

Bahahaha, suck it, Comcast!


-b0b
(...Team America!)

Quote:

Pioneer shows off 16-layer 400GB Blu-ray Disc, affirms compatibility with current players by Darren Murph, posted Dec 2nd 2008 at 7:35AM When Pioneer first introduced its unicorn-like 16-layer 400GB Blu-ray Disc, we weren't sure if the thing would make it beyond the drawing board, let alone be compatible with existing BD decks. Over at the IT Month Fair in Taipei, Pioneer showed up to showcase the capacious disc, and better still, a DigiTimes report asserts that these are indeed compatible with Blu-ray readers already on the market. Currently, the 400GB disc is slated to hit mass production sometime between now and 2010, while rewritable versions won't hit until 2010 to 2012. Not like it really matters though -- a 1TB disc is on track for 2013, and you know you'll be waiting for the latest and greatest.

Wow, 1.5TB hard drives are already on the market, and 1TB optical discs are on the horizon!  The amount of streaming HD pr0n video game goodness I can store on these things is unreal!

I'll definitely be in the market for a 400GB Blu-Ray writer once they ship.  I have no way of backing up the 2.0+ terabytes of FTP data right now.  If I backed it up on DVD, I'd have to write 50 of them!

-b0b
(...drools.)

As a band geek, a gamer chick, and a resident of Kalamazoo, I present you with this link and nothing more, as words would do it no justice.

http://www.newspaceentertainment.com/kalamazoo/videogameslive/

...and for the record, it's going to kick TSO's seasonal holiday ass. =)

Marie wrote on Dec 8^th, 2008 at 9:22pm:

...and for the record, it's going to kick TSO's seasonal holiday ass. =)

I love video games as much as the next gamer geek, but that's downright treasonous!

-b0b
(...is listening to "Night Enchanted" right now.)

First post from Windows 7, Internet Explorer 8!

It's basically just Vista rehashed, but it runs quite well actually.  I'm surprised at how mature the OS is considering that its still got a year to brew before the anticipated release date.

The beta went public today, but we got a copy a day early at work.  You can pick up the beta at Microsoft's website if you're so inclined.

I'll give a more thorough review later if anybody is interested.


-b0b
(...w00t)

I am interested!

I have such a bad taste in my mouth from Vista, I don't trust anything from those assholes right now.

When it comes to leaving a bad taste in our mouths, Vista has nothing on your mom.

My boss was kind enough to let me go home a little early yesterday because of the lovely weather we're having, so I only got to spend 20-25 minutes with Windows 7 after the install completed.  

I'll say this, it was the fasted and cleanest install of Windows I've ever done.  They've improved on the Vista installation process even further, and I have to give them serious kudos for that.  Once you boot from the DVD, you're taken straight into a clean graphical interface at a reasonable resolution.  You can add drivers for RAID controllers right off the bat, and the process doesn't screech to a halt if it doesn't have the right drivers.  It will simply prompt you to install drivers from a floppy, CD, DVD, or USB key (verah nice!) instead of exiting out of the install phase like XP/2000 and prior.

It also asks you for all of your relevant install information right up front, so you can enter the information and let the PC do the rest.  That way, you don't have to babysit your PC throughout the entire installation, inputting random information throughout the whole process.

Once you get into the OS, it really feels like a slightly modified version of Vista, although it seems to run much, much better.  That alone is worth the cost of admission if you ask me.  I won't use the vast majority of the interface upgrades.  It's a bunch of reorganized hoohah, like an improved start menu (I still use the W2k "Classic" interface) and task bar.

You can now turn all of your windows transparent with the click of a button, which allows you to see the desktop.  You can't click on anything, though, without minimizing the windows... so it seems rather useless.  I don't put much on my desktop, though, so it might be more useful for others.  They've also improved that annoying UAC program that pops up "Are you sure?!" messages every time you click anything.  I always turn off UAC in Vista, so I doubt it will be all that useful for power users like us.

I'll post some screenshots on Monday if I get a chance.  I might install Windows 7 on a virtual machine on the Bobulator, too.  We'll see!

-b0b
(...needs to play with it some more before passing judgment.)

By the way, here's a screenshot of the command prompt in Windows 7.  Not that Windows 7 is really Windows 6.1.


-b0b
(...roffles @ Microsoft.)

---

By the way, you can download the public beta here.

Availability is limited to 2.5 million downloads, so don't wait too long.

-b0b
(...still wants to install it at home.)

I downloaded it last night and installed it on one of my office machines at work.  Seems nice so far. It certainly has a softer look than Vista.

To add to what bob said, I think the networking stack seems to have had a huge change.  Not too much from user interface, but the backbone.  Many things are seem faster such as joining a domain and other such procedures.

I haven't had any compatibility issues other than daemon tools.    

Marie wrote on Dec 8^th, 2008 at 9:21pm:

As a band geek, a gamer chick, and a resident of Kalamazoo, I present you with this link and nothing more, as words would do it no justice. http://www.newspaceentertainment.com/kalamazoo/videogameslive/

Meredith and I went to see Video Games Live on Friday, and I came away with only one word to describe it: Amazing.

The concert was incredible.  I can't believe how many big names were part of the show.  Christopher Tin, the composer of "Baba Tetu" for Civilization IV, participated in a live Q&A via Skype.  Michael Salvatori, composer for the Halo series, talked to the audience for awhile and met with the crowd after the show.

One of the emcees, Tommy Tallarico, was the composer for Earthworm Jim, Messiah, and Advent Rising.  The other Emcee, Jack Wall, composed Mass Effect, Jade Empire, Splinter Cell, and the Myst series.  Both of them were incredible, and the orchestra and choir really rose to the occasion.

The concert covered an incredible amount of ground.  Zelda, Mario, Final Fantasy, Sonic, Tetris, and Metal Gear solid were all prominently featured.  The Kalamazoo concert was one of the first events that featured a medley from the "number one most-requested game," Chrono Trigger!  As you guys know, Chrono Trigger is my favorite game of all time, and I went absolutely nuts with the rest of the crowd when it was announced!

More later!


-b0b
(...is still psyched.)

Ditto to all of the above.

Where were you guys sitting? We were looking for you.

Favorite pieces were Civilization, Chrono Trigger, and One Winged Angel from FFVII.

My best girlfriend was part of the choir and is hooking me up with the scores to all of the pieces, along with the rehearsal CD. Sweet, eh?

Depending on finances and the fiance's surgery schedule, I might be going to the Final Fantasy "Distant Worlds" concert in Grand Rapids. Nobuo Uetmatsu himself will be there, and there is a meet and greet with him afterwards.

As awesome as last Friday night's performance was, I'm looking forward to this one even more. =)

We were in the center of the floor section, in row 12.  We had really good seats, which was a pleasant surprise.

I picked up tickets to Distant Worlds, too.  We'll be sitting in the orchestra section in front of the stage, row A.  Can't get much better than that!


-b0b
(...is psyched.)

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45706000/jpg/_45706665_000164053.jpg


Quote:

Optical disc offers 500GB storage A disc that can store 500 gigabytes (GB) of data, equivalent to 100 DVDs, has been unveiled by General Electric. The micro-holographic disc, which is the same size as existing DVD discs, is aimed at the archive industry. But the company believes it can eventually be used in the consumer market place and home players. Blu-ray discs, which are used to store high definition movies and games, can currently hold between 25GB and 50GB.

Screw Blu-Ray, give me one of these!


-b0b
(...will take two, actually.)

The new Star Trek movie?  Two words for ya:  FRICKIN' EPIC.

It's very rare that my expectations are ever met at the theater, let alone exceeded.  Star Trek is the first movie to pull that off since Iron Man, which was the first movie since... well... pretty much ever.

Star Trek has excellent casting, a relatively interesting plot, solid visuals, and some fantastic writing.  Beam me up, baby!


-b0b
(...still thinks Picard is better.)

Yeah I saw it Thursday night and was pretty happy with it.  I have to say the guy playing Kirk did a better job at it then Shatner did.  He had the same mannerisms and movements as Shattner but without the overdone part of the acting.

I agree with the previous statements but someone please take away the various lens flares, bloom, and hotspot tools/filters from JJ Abrams. My goodness, it was like a strobe light sometimes.

Fox is making 26 more episodes of Futurama!

Quote:

Windows 7 Ultimate activation cracked with OEM master key Windows 7 Ultimate has been cracked. The pirate milestone, reached almost three months before Windows 7 is set to hit General Availability on October 22, 2009, was achieved via OEM instant offline activation that passes Windows Genuine Advantage validation and keeps the operating system permanently activated. Previous cracks weren't as solid: while they may be working now, they can easily be disabled by Microsoft. This one won't be so easy. Both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate can now easily be activated, according to My Digital Life. For Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Home Basic, and Windows 7 Starter, the OEM-System-Locked Preinstallation (SLP) keys haven't been leaked, so they cannot be OEM-activated yet. It won't be long before easy-to-use Windows 7 activation toolkits start appearing in the wild. The story begins with a Windows 7 Ultimate OEM DVD ISO from Lenovo leaking to a Chinese forum. The boot.wim file was then used to retrieve the OEM-SLP product key and OEM certificate for Windows 7 Ultimate. The SLP is a procedure used by Microsoft to preactivate the Windows operating system for mass distribution by major OEMs. Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 use SLP version 2.1, which is backwards-compatible with version 2.0, the version Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 use. As such, after the OEM certificate and OEM product key were extracted, it was discovered that Windows 7 uses the same digitally signed OEM certificate, which has an .xrm-ms extension, that Vista uses. The extracted Windows 7 Ultimate OEM-SLP product key can be used to activate an installed Windows 7 Ultimate system, and since the product key appears to be a master OEM-SLP product key for Windows 7 Ultimate, it can activate Windows 7 Ultimate from any OEM. Furthermore, even if the user already has a retail version of Windows 7 Ultimate installed, it can be converted to an OEM version with two simple commands, and then activated. This is a major breakthrough for the Windows piracy world and a huge blow to Microsoft. Even if it was imminent, the fact that it has occurred so soon means pirates will have activated copies of Windows 7 a good week before even MSDN and TechNet subscribers get their hands on the RTM build on August 6, not to mention all the other groups Microsoft plans to give the build to. The Windows 7 RTM and Windows Server 2008 RTM build was compiled on July 13, 2009 and the official announcement was made on July 22, 2009.

This has to be a new milestone.  This might be the first OS to ever be cracked a full three months before it gets released!

I'm not real sure how Microsoft will deal with this.  Windows 7 will use Windows Genuine Advantage 2.1, which is wholly backward compatible with WGA 2.0, used in Vista and Server 2008.  Since the key that was stolen was an OEM key (used to create "child" keys for individuals PCs), I'm not sure if Microsoft can blacklist the Lenovo OEM key and reissue a new one without blacklisting hundreds of thousands of legitimate Vista/2008 keys.


-b0b
(...we'll see!)

Didn't know where to put this comment but I just watched the trailer for the movie District 9 and it looks epic!

What do you think?

I plan on going to see it.  It looks really well done, and Peter Jackson does have a pretty decent movie history.

I figure it's worth the 47 dollars it costs to see a movie these days ;)

I saw it and it was very well done. I recommend seeing it in the theater.

I saw the late show on Friday and enjoyed it.  It wasn't an epic movie and I wouldn't describe it as earth-shattering or ground-breaking, but it was thoroughly enjoyable.


-b0b
(...gives it a thumbs up.)

I love how it started out as a sort of documentary and seamlessly transferred into a normally filmed story.  It was a very creative film with surprising amounts of gore.

Yea i loved it, we need more films like this. I'm tired of the standard formula. This movie pretty much stayed semi-unpredictable.

http://www.geoffchappell.com/viewer.htm?doc=notes/windows/license/memory.htm


Quote:

Though machines with 4GB are not yet the typical purchase for home or business use, they are readily available from major manufacturers and it won’t be long before they are the typical purchase. But there are problems. You don’t have to stand for long in a computer shop to hear a sales assistant talk of 4GB as some sort of limit for 32-bit operating systems, and it won’t be long before this sales patter develops into outright promotion of 64-bit Windows as the only way to get past this limit. Some sense of this can be seen already in manufacturers’ advertising materials, as in the following fine print from Dell:    The total amount of available memory will be less than 4GB. The amount less depends on the actual system configuration. To fully utilise 4GB or more of memory requires a 64-bit enabled processor and 64-bit operating system, available on selected systems only. Let me stress now that I do not complain about Dell’s statement. Its first two sentences are correct for all 32-bit editions of Windows Vista exactly as configured by Microsoft and installed by Dell. In the last sentence, I might quibble that the talk of a 64-bit processor is superfluous since the machine on offer does have such a processor, but otherwise the sentence is correct because of the word fully. Yet although Dell’s statement is true, it is not the whole truth: there is something that Microsoft does not tell you, and perhaps does not tell Dell. That 32-bit editions of Windows Vista are limited to 4GB is not because of any physical or technical constraint on 32-bit operating systems. The 32-bit editions of Windows Vista all contain code for using physical memory above 4GB. Microsoft just doesn’t license you to use that code. Well, to say it that way is perhaps to put words in Microsoft’s mouth. I say the restriction to 4GB is a licensing issue because that’s how Microsoft’s programmers evidently have thought of it. The 4GB limit is retrieved from the registry by calling a function named ZwQueryLicenseValue, which is itself called from an internal procedure which Microsoft’s published symbol files name as MxMemoryLicense. If you remove this check for the licensed memory limit then a restriction to 4GB is demonstrably not enforced by other means. Yet I must admit that I have not found where Microsoft says directly that 32-bit Windows Vista is limited to 4GB only by licensing. The supposed License Agreement doesn’t even mention the word memory. What, really, is going on?

Bob, thoughts?

That post is complete, total, and utter crap.  The author is confusing Physical Address Extension (PAE) with traditional memory access.  Yes, PAE is only licensed with certain operating systems (generally Enterprise versions of the server products).  The 4GB limitation is a mathematical problem, not a licensing problem.

A memory space (bit) can contain one of two values, a 1 or a 0.  A 32-bit platform can therefore access 2^32 bits within its address space, or 4,200,000,000 bits.  That's ~4.2Gb.  Now keep in mind that this is the total addressable limit for all memory, not just RAM.  You lose additional space to L1/L2/L3 cache and, depending on the system, even video RAM.

This is a fairly complicated subject, but here's a stab in the dark.  Most 32-bit Windows systems running with 4GB of RAM (the max) will split the amount of memory in half.  2GB is used to service the Kernel, while the other 2GB services applications.  All applications are assigned the full 2GB of memory, yet they all share the same physical 2GB.  Memory mapping is responsible for handling allocations and contentions.

On Windows servers, you can use a /3GB or /3GT switch to allocate change the 2GB/2GB allocation to a 3GB/1GB allocation, but that's not an option (or even relevant) for a workstation.  PAE technology comes in to the picture by mapping each application to a separate 2GB chunk, instead of forcing them all to use a single 2GB chunk.  The problem is that your hardware can only recognize one 2GB chunk at a time due to the 4GB limitation.  On some servers, the overhead of switching between 2GB chunks is more efficient than swapping out data in a single 2GB chunk, but this is very application specific.

Here's the short end of it:  Microsoft is screwing anybody over through licensing, and the 4GB limitation has nothing to do with the operating system.  PAE is a very limited work-around that only works in very specific circumstances.  Get a 64-bit OS.


-b0b
(...the more you know!)

Quote:

or 4,200,000,000 bits.  That's ~4.2GB.

or about 4.2 Gb


Quote:

(...the more you know!)

Thank you, Mr. Bit Nazi.  Your contribution has truly touched us all.

http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Clap.gif

-b0b
(...salutes.)

802.11n is no longer a draft standard!  If you guys have been waiting on finalization to buy 802.11n equipment, today is your day!

http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/09/09/11/2220223/IEEE-Approves-80211n-Wi-Fi-Standard?art_pos=6


-b0b
(...bets that doesn't describe anyone.)

I just bought some n equipment last week.  Not sure how to force my adapter to operate on the 5GHz frequency.  I'm assuming if the router is operating at 5GHz and my adapter is connected to the router, I must be using the 5GHz frequency...

I saw Zombieland yesterday for free. There was a screening at the Rave.  I have to say this was one of my favorite movies of the year.

It's like looking at the sun!!! (Possibly NSFW)

http://www.manolith.com/2009/10/12/12-hottest-geek-girls/

X

Ahh, yes, but will anyone ever be able to top Stevie "Killcreek" Case, playboy model, professional gamer, and FPS level designer?


-b0b
(...remembers the PC XL issue fondly.)

It's about darn time!  SCO, best known for suing Linux users and developers, has finally fired everybody's favorite CEO Darl McBride.

Join me in dancing on his proverbial grave!


-b0b
(...w00t!)




Quote:

In an SEC filing published today, SCO revealed that CEO Darl McBride has been terminated and is no longer with the company. The decision to fire the controversial CEO is part of a restructuring plan that is based on recommendations made by the Chapter 11 trustee who was assigned to SCO by the justice department. McBride was the architect and public face of SCO's misguided campaign against Linux. He claimed that the open source operating system infringed on SCO's copyright and included a significant quantity of code stolen from UNIX System V. On the basis of this claim, SCO threatened to sue a multitude of corporate Linux users and demanded hefty licensing fees. During the ensuing litigation fiasco, an internal SCO memo was revealed which indicated that SCO's own internal code audits of Linux found no actual evidence of infringement. The courts eventually determined that SCO never even owned the relevant UNIX copyrights in the first place. Even after SCO's deception was exposed and the company effectively lost its case, Darl McBride continued to insist that the company has evidence of System V code in Linux. No such evidence has been presented and McBride's argument directly contradicts testimony given by other SCO executives. McBride's stubborn detachment from reality has made him a subject of ridicule in the Linux community. The SEC filing indicates that SCO COO Jeff Hunsaker and CFO Ken Nielsen will assume the responsibility of managing SCO in collaboration with the trustee. The company does not intend to name a new CEO. Additional details of the restructuring plan are said to be forthcoming, but the company says that it has undertaken several cost-cutting measures including a "a modest reduction in SCO's workforce" and the sale of additional assets. In a statement issued by SCO's new leadership, the company indicates that it plans to continue its litigation efforts and will move forward with the appeals process. The company also says that it plans to continue supporting its UNIX products. This potentially indicates that SCO has given up on trying to unload its UnixWare assets, a plan that has fallen through several times now as various proposed deals have evaporated. "These actions, while difficult, are essential to SCO becoming a more agile and efficient company, not just for this year, but for years to come," said Hunsaker in a statement. "This restructuring plan reinforces SCO's ability to continue to sell and support its products while servicing the needs of our customers and partners on a worldwide basis through the stabilization of our financial situation." SCO's numerous reorganization plans have consistently failed. It seems unlikely that the company is still capable of resurrecting itself. The courts are also growing impatient with the company's antics. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross blocked SCO's last attempted asset sale and remarked in his ruling that the company's hopes for litigation success were like a bad remix of Waiting for Godot. Now that Darl has been axed, one wonders how long the rest of the company will continue its struggle for survival.

Quote:

More MGM Fallout: Red Dawn Delayed, Perhaps Indefinitely? Posted on Thursday, June 10th, 2010 by Russ Fischer MGM’s dire financial situation — the studio is now controlled by creditors rather than execs — is having a growing effect on a wide variety of films. The twenty-third Bond movie was shelved indefinitely, basically until MGM’s situation is sorted out and EON Productions can get the movie made elsewhere. Guillermo Del Toro walked away from directing The Hobbit because the studio’s troubles had extended the pre-production schedule to a length he wasn’t comfortable with, and the film’s future remains uncertain. And now the Red Dawn remake, which has already been stirring up controversy in China, is reportedly delayed until MGM’s problems are dealt with. The LA Times reports,    Red Dawn isn’t coming Nov. 24, as the conservative blogs have all promised. In fact, no one knows when the movie will ever be released. The film is reportedly close to finished, but MGM is in no position to release anything at this point. What’s ironic here is that Red Dawn is probably the film that could stand to make MGM the most money right now. But if there’s no money to really finish the film, much less pay for a release, what can be done? Perhaps sell it off to another studio? Could happen, and MGM could also be back in some sort of fighting shape by the end of this year…yeah, right. On the topic of the controversy brought up by the film (which hasn’t been shown publicly, mind you) there were strong words from a state-run Chinese paper after the script recently leaked out. “U.S. reshoots Cold War movie to demonize China” and “American movie plants hostile seeds against China,” were the headlines last week in the Global Times, published out of Beijing. Articles went on to say that the film has roots in a deep American fear of Chinese power. “China can still feel U.S. distrust and fear, especially among its people. Americans’ suspicions about China are the best ground for the hawks to disseminate fear and doubt, which is the biggest concern with the movie ‘Red Dawn,’” went one piece. China and the film’s producers aren’t the only irritated parties here. A New Yorker blog says “Before we begin hearing about the “hurtfeelingsoftheChinesepeople,” I would point out that this film also hurts the feelings of some American people who know we can do better than this.” And based on the script, The Awl calls Red Dawn “probably the most unnecessary, irresponsible, Sinophobic film in America’s history, and that’s saying a lot…The film is, indeed, just a film. Or as the MGM executive I spoke with described it: “just an action film.” Nonetheless, it is a bald example of how one-dimensionally America generally, at all levels, thinks about China and Chinese people.” So now I need to read the script. I love how, in the face of and possibly directly in response to this controversy, some conservative press is ready to embrace the film as a hard-core anti-Communist update of the original, though I have doubts that it will really take such a hard line in the final edit. The days of John Milius are (perhaps sadly) in the past.

The Hobbit and the Red Dawn remake are both on the same chopping block.  Thanks, Hollywood!  Just stomp on my dreams a little more, why don't you?!


-b0b
(...thinks it might be for the best.)

Quote:

The Hobbit Has a Cast — and a Very British One Peter Jackson’s two-part movie of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, set to start filming in February, may not have a firm filming location — but it finally has a cast! There are still several important roles to be filled, but with Bilbo and most of the dwarves cast, Jackson’s vision is definitely starting to take shape. Confirming many rumors that had been swirling about the production, it’s now been confirmed that Martin Freeman, probably best known to American geek audiences as Arthur Dent in the disappointing 2005 film adaptation of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and possibly his role in the British The Office, will play the title character of Bilbo Baggins. Thorin, the leader of the dwarves, will be played by Richard Armitage, who has mostly acted in British TV productions, and is probably best known to geek audiences elsewhere as Guy of Gisborne in the latest TV adaptation of the Robin Hood legend. The other actors playing dwarves that have been announced are Aidan Turner, Rob Kazinsky, Graham McTavish, John Callen, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow, and Peter Hambleton. If any of those names means anything to you, that’s more than any of them does to me — they all appear to be British, Scottish or Irish, and to have appeared primarily in British TV productions. There has yet to be official confirmation that Andy Serkis will return to play Gollum and that Ian McKellan will be back as Gandalf, though it’s difficult to imagine anyone else in the roles now. Rumors have swirled about who might play the Elven King, though most that I’d seen were that Aidan Turner would play him and he’s now cast as Kili. Other names talked about include the incomparable Stephen Fry — though I’m unsure what role he might play — and Bill Nighy, who is rumored to be the one to provide the voice of the dragon Smaug. For my part, I want to know who’s going to play Beorn and Bard the Bowman — perhaps an American actor. I mean, Viggo Mortensen, Elijah Wood and Sean Astin are all American, and they did OK, right?

It's about time!


-b0b
(...needs his Tolkien fix!)

The Wheel of Time : Towers of Midnight

(book 13)

is out today!

*peers at Wes*

Is this the actual final book, or did the pseudo-author end up splitting it into two books as was rumored?


-b0b
(...will read the entire thing once it is finished.)

It is technically the final book.  Just in three parts hahah.  The guy they hired to finish the series for Robert Jordan decided that it was impossible to fit the remainder of Jordans story into one book without making it 3000 pages long.

I'll be honest though Briney.  I haven't read book 12 yet.  I'm kinda stalling till they are finished so I don't have to wait for the next one lol.

I guess I'll keep waiting, then!  It'll be interesting to see the reviews for the replacement author's work, though.


-b0b
(...meh.)

"Let your marriage be ever lasting, just like the Wheel Of Time Series"
- Me, from Briney's wedding

X
(/bows)

I wouldn't wait Wes, 12 had a great conclusion! The Gathering Storm is definitely my favorite in the series.  It's a very tightly focused book, and Sanderson did an amazing job keeping true to the series.

From what I hear 13 is basically the huge setup before the final novel, so maybe you wait on reading 13 until A Memory of Light comes out.  Instead of reading in one sitting, I am going to try to savor this one.

Well, if you restrict yourself to 100 pages a day, you should be able to savor it for about six years.


-b0b
(...hurrr!)

Once I finish reading the series I'm on right now, I'll probably reread the Wheel of Time (for the 6th time).  It's been years since I've read it and I really need a refresher course I think.

Here's the first pic of the new Captain America outfit.  Not too shabby, in my opinion.


http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/CaptainAmerica.jpg


Quote:

Captain America: The First Avenger' stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt / The Red Skull, Hayley Atwell as love interest Peggy Carter, Samuel Jackson reprising his 'Iron Man' role as Nick Fury, with Stanley Tucci, Tommy Lee Jones, Dominic Cooper, Sebastian Stan and Neal McDonough. In theaters July 22, 2011.

-b0b
(...thinks it is true to the original without being too gay.)

Also, it appears to be set in World War II.

http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/CaptainAmerica2.jpg


-b0b
(...sweet!)

I'm just full of movie screens lately.  Stewie must be sleeping on the job!

Anyway, several shots from the film Panzer 88 have been released via FaceBook (blech!), and they look amazing.  This is definitely on my must-watch list.  Here's a link:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=178723352150448&set=a.178723348817115.36144.178720595484057&pid=484869&id=178720595484057#!/photo.php?fbid=178723352150448&set=a.178723348817115.36144.178720595484057&pid=484869&id=178720595484057

...and here are a couple teasers:

http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Panzer1.jpg

http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Panzer2.jpg


-b0b
(...wonders if Stewie or Briney know more?)

For those that want a little more explanation of Donnie Darko...this article might help:

http://metaphilm.com/index.php/detail/donnie-darko/

X

If I need to read an explanation, the movie was doing it wrong.


-b0b
(...so there!)

Here's a behind-the-scenes video of the filming for The Hobbit.  I'd love to say I'm totally psyched, but I'm at work and can't watch the video.

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/04/10-minute-video-filming-begins-on-the-hobbit/


-b0b
(...w00t!)

Laura just started to get into the subgrene of Steampunk.  Can anyone recommend some great movies and books to get her started?  Thanks!

X
(Has the best gf eva!)

Van Helsing is often regarded as the "steampunkiest" of relatively modern big budget films.  Wild Wild West is also part of the genre.


-b0b
(...will ask Mere.)

It looks like the Ribbon interface is coming to Explorer in Windows 8.  Joy.

http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Windows8Ribbon.jpg

If it's anything like the Office Ribbon, I imagine we will have to relearn the majority of the keyboard shortcuts for Explorer.  Yay!


-b0b
(...likes Ribbon, but hates relearning shortcuts.)

Yes, lets make the bar enormous and filled with lots of buttons we wont use during the majority of our windows experience...

Brilliant!

/gag

That thing is a disgrace to UI development and i will be turning it off immediately.

Yeah, the loss in screen real estate is the real killer.  It seems like every time monitors get larger and resolutions get higher, Microsoft comes up with a way to waste that space with some big, ugly bar.


-b0b
(...grrr!)

Hey Stewie!  I've heard that Gillian Anderson alluded to a third X-Files movie.  You got any inside info for us?


-b0b
(...hmms!)

Well back in the day.  Everyone's contract called for 3 optional movies as Chris Carter deemed.

One was Fight the Future which I enjoyed and the DVD/home release was a lot better than the theatrical release.

Two was I Want To Believe which was disappointing to everyone who wanted it to follow the alien plotline.  I think it's unappreciated but by no means a great movie.  If you look at it like a longer episode, it holds up pretty well.

As for the 3rd one.  I'll wait to hear from Chris Carter before I get excited.  This will probably be the last hurah though.  I don't really know what to expect considering the last 3 seasons were a wash for me and with the last movie focusing on Mulder and Scully again...it's all up in the air.

X

Quote:

Particles Recorded Exceeding the Speed of Light http://io9.com/5842947/scientific-breakthrough-physicists-at-cern-have-recorded-particles-moving-faster-than-light Antonio Ereditato, who works at the CERN particle physics center on the Franco-Swiss border, told Reuters that measurements over three years showed the neutrinos moving 60 nanoseconds quicker than light over a distance of 730 km between Geneva and Gran Sasso, Italy. "We have high confidence in our results. But we need other colleagues to do their tests and confirm them," he said. If confirmed, the discovery would overturn a key part of Albert Einstein's 1905 theory of special relativity, which says that nothing in the universe can travel faster than light.

That seems like sort of a big deal, no?


-b0b
(...wonders when he can get an SRT8 with a neutrino-based engine.)

The remake of Red Dawn may finally see the light of day!

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/09/red-dawn-remake-to-come-out-next-year-from-filmdistrict.html


-b0b
(...feels like his posted nearly identical articles in years past.)

Steve Jobs is dead.  I certainly didn't see that coming quite so quickly.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/10/steve-jobs-february-24-1955---october-5-2011.ars

I can't say I've ever been a fan of the Steve Jobs ethos, but I certainly have to admit the he's done a lot for the industry.  Apple has really shaken up the consumer IT industry over the past thirty years.

I'm going to fire up my Apple IIe emulator and play a bit of Eamon in his honor.


-b0b
(...God speed, Steve!)

TorrentFreak had a list that the MPAA gave to the government of their top 10 torrent sites:


Quote:

The MPAA’s first category includes all the major torrent sites, which the group claims are facilitating mass copyright infringement. Also in this list is the Chinese BitTorrent-based application Xunlei, which is partly owned by Google.     ThePirateBay.org     Rutracker.org     Kat.ph     IsoHunt.com     Demonoid.me     Torrentz.eu     Btjunkie.org     Xunlei.com

My question is, what sites do you guys use that aren't on the list?

For weird, old, lesser known movies I go to - http://cinemageddon.net/

X

I found this article amusing and I'm sure my fellow geeks will agree.

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/07/mythbusters-cannonball-sails-through-neighborhood/?hpt=hp_c3

I love Mythbusters.  Why the hell does the sheriff's department have a "bomb disposal range" that is 700 yards from a residential neighborhood?  You'd think they'd put that out in the middle of nowhere.


-b0b
(...then again, it is California.)

LOL I was wondering the same shit b0b.  I feel like 700 yards isn't even far enough away to avoid shock waves from larger bombs blowing out your windows every time they go off.

Quote:

IBM touts quantum computing breakthrough Scientists at IBM Research today said they have achieved a major advance in quantum computing that will allow engineers to begin work on creating a full-scale quantum computer. The breakthrough allowed scientists to reduce data error rates in elementary computations while maintaining the integrity of quantum mechanical properties in quantum bits of data, known as qubits. The creation of a quantum computer would mean data processing power would be exponentially increased over what is possible with today's conventional CPUs, according to Mark Ketchen, the manager of physics of information at the IBM's TJ Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY. More here:  http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9224670/IBM_touts_quantum_computing_breakthrough

This is an incredible breakthrough.  Quantum computing will blow away our conventional understanding of information technology, and will be second only to the Internet in terms of revolutionizing the way we use computers.

Bring on the holodeck!


-b0b
(...and Skynet?)

Quote:

Often, when fans say they could have done a better job than someone perceived to have ruined the object of their devotion, it’s just a lot of hot air. Unless, of course, that fan is That 70s Show‘s Topher Grace, who recently treated a group of 50 people to a screening of his pet project: an 85-minute recut of the Star Wars prequels. You read that correctly. Topher Grace re-edited George Lucas’ three prequel films – which run a collective 418 minutes – into one, coherent, feature length film. And, apparently, it’s pretty good! In addition to slashing the running time (and in order to make those cuts and still have a coherent storyline), Grace shifted and refocused things a little from the prequels we know and argue over. Gone is all the pod racing, unnecessary exposition and obnoxious CGI characters that clutter Episode I. Instead, Grace begins his film with the end of that one: with the final showdown between Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon and Darth Maul. He kept much of the action from Lucas’ films but eliminated any lightsaber battles unless they were relevant to the actual storylines he emphasizes, which are largely the Anakin-Padme relationship and Obi-Wan’s search for the individuals trying to assassinate politicians. Scenes like the one where Padme brings Anakin home to meet her family that were deleted from Lucas’ films but shed light on characters and relationships are reinstated. Grace provides a smooth transition to the original trilogy by ending his film on the image of the menacing Darth Vader sans that much maligned “Nooo!” http://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/scifi/topher-grace-reedits-star-wars-prequels-85-minutes.html

I want to watch this.  I'm holding out hope for a Pirate Bay leak!


-b0b
(...all of the good bits minus the bad bits.  What's not to love?)

He eliminated light saber battles and focused on the padme-anakin love story?  I fail to see how thats cutting out the bad bits and keeping the good bits lol

http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Discovery.jpg


Quote:

Space Shuttle Discovery's Last Flight WASHINGTON — The space shuttle Discovery, NASA's fleet leader and the world's most flown spacecraft, lifted off for the last time on Tuesday to be delivered to the Smithsonian for its permanent display. Discovery took off atop NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified Boeing 747, leaving the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:58 a.m. ET, just after dawn, for Washington. The ferry flight was expected to take about three and a half hours.

More here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47070577/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.T41dXtUf_Hg

I would love to get to the Smithsonian and see the Discovery in person.  What an amazing piece of engineering...


-b0b
(...road trip!)

As a followup to the previous article:


Quote:

Former Astronaut Takes Dig At Obama, Tells Aspiring Cadet To ‘Study Russian’ Former NASA astronaut and "the first mother to fly in space” Dr. Anna Fisher took a veiled shot at President Obama and his space policies Tuesday during an interview with a local anchor at Dulles International Airport where Discovery was making its last flight before being retired at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Fisher pulled a little boy named Ethan out of the crowd who was dressed up as a NASA pilot and asked him if he wanted to be an astronaut when he grew up, which he answered in the affirmative. "Any advice for Ethan, an aspiring astronaut?” she asked her mom. "Study Russian,” Fisher quipped, to laughter.

More here:  http://www.mediaite.com/tv/former-astronaut-takes-dig-at-obama-tells-aspiring-cadet-to-study-russian/

http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/OhSnapChart.jpg

It hurts because it's true.

-b0b
(...such a hot burn!)

May the 4th be with you!

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f368/Jasonbriney/sw1.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f368/Jasonbriney/sw2.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f368/Jasonbriney/sw3.jpg

Gosh, I remember being so tired at the end of that day...you can see it etched on Wes' and my faces

I forgot how fat I used to be lol

I finally got around to installing that copy of the Windows 8 preview I downloaded a couple of months ago.  I've been dreading it for awhile, and most of my suspicions were well-founded.  It appears the Windows 8 interface was designed exclusively with tablets in mind, which is fine... if you're working on a tablet.

As a desktop operating system, this interface absolutely sucks.  To log in, for instance, you need to "swipe" a wallpaper/clock image off the screen.  This is incredibly unintuitive with a mouse, as you have to click, hold, and "throw" the image off the screen.  I'm hoping Win8 will change before launch to automatically detect the kind of machine you're using during the installation phase and disable this touch-specific BS.

The Start menu has now been replaced by a god-awful thumbnail application that pops up on launch.  It covers the entire screen and, for a moment, I was wondering if the traditional Windows application bar and desktop had been removed entirely.  The traditional minimize/maximize/close buttons are pretty much gone, and I'm having a hell of a time figuring out how to consistently minimize the Start application.  Once again, I'm sure it is completely intuitive on a tablet, but tablets are still a tiny percentage of the computing market.

I don't quite get the fish logo.  This replaces the colorful Windows logo that displays when the OS is started.  I'm sure this will change.
http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Win8Preview1.jpg

The OS installer is virtually identical to Windows 7.  Once the OS is loaded and started for the first time, you get this oddball app that walks you through configuration of the OS.
http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Win8Preview2.jpg

Perhaps the oddest change is the integration of the Microsoft Passport (or whatever they call it now) account system into the desktop authentication scheme.  You now use your central Microsoft account (TechNet, XBox Live, etc) to sign into your OS.
http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Win8Preview3.jpg

You also add your phone number to your Microsoft account for password resets.  I'm not sure how that's going to work out.
http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Win8Preview4.jpg

Here's the Start application I was complaining about.  Like everything else, it is built for a touch interface, so you have to drag your way around the application.
http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Win8Preview5.jpg

This is the image you see when you first boot the system.  You have to drag this screen away to get to the logon screen.  It's incredibly unintuitive with a mouse.
http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Win8Preview6.jpg

It seems like Windows 8 has tacked on another way to do just about everything.  The control panel is still available, but much of the functionality has been moved to this thing.  Notice there is no obvious way to minimize, maximize, or close this application.  You have to move your mouse down the lower right corner to get the prompt, and if you accidentally move your mouse outside of the menu, it disappears and you have to start over.
http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Win8Preview7.jpg

And finally, the desktop.  After some finagling, I've managed to get it semi-useful.  Notice the missing Start button, though.
http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Win8Preview8.jpg

At the end of the day, this reminds me of the annoying desktop management applications that many OEMs shipped on top of Windows 95.  The one I'm most familiar with is Acer Computer Explorer, or ACE.  When Windows launched, this application launched on top of the desktop and completely obscured the Start bar, desktop, etc.  It took up the full screen.  Many Acer owners never even knew this thing was itself an application and not the OS.  In short, it was crap.


-b0b
(...is definitely not a fan.)

Quote:

George Lucas' rich neighbors don't want him building a movie studio in their backyard. His response is the best thing he's done in years. The local homeowners association has been such a thorn in Lucas' side that he's decided to abandon the studio construction entirely, issuing this official statement about Lucasfilm's withdrawal of the new studio: The level of bitterness and anger expressed by the homeowners in Lucas Valley has convinced us that, even if we were to spend more time and acquire the necessary approvals, we would not be able to maintain a constructive relationship with our neighbors. So what is George Lucas going to do with his property now that he's tired of his rich neighbors putting up a not-in-my-backyard stink? He wants to transform the property into low-income housing, naturally, ending their official statement with this zinger, "If everyone feels that housing is less impactful on the land, then we are hoping that people who need it the most will benefit."

More here:  http://www.movies.com/movie-news/george-lucas-grady-ranch/7883

This is the best thing I've read in ages.  It's about time Lucas did something that didn't make me want to kick a baby.


-b0b
(...w00t!)

Happy 35th birthday, Star Wars!

http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/StarWars.jpg


-b0b
(...may the force be with you!)

Quote:

The IPv6 launch has expanded the number of Internet addresses to 340 undecillion. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) –– One of the crucial mechanisms powering the Internet got a giant, years-in-the-making overhaul on Wednesday. When we say "giant," we're not kidding. Silly-sounding huge number alert: The Internet's address book grew from "just" 4.3 billion unique addresses to 340 undecillion (that's 340 trillion trillion trillion). That's a growth factor of 79 octillion (billion billion billion). If it all goes right, you won't notice a thing. And that's the point.

Happy IPv6 launch day, everybody!  I hope your day is fast and error free!


-b0b
(...will be busy for a couple days.)

I just heard that Ray Bradbury passed away.  I enjoyed reading several of his books back in the day.  God speed, Mr. Bradbury!


-b0b
(...perhaps he'll get a nice Martian flyby.)

I ended up sending him something to sign and he wrote me back with my item signed (cover of Fahrenheit 451) along with a few personalized notes.  It was pretty sweet.  he has horrible handwriting though.

X

Lots of reports of explosions, ground shaking, and high radiation in northern Indiana and southwest Michigan lately.  Here's a WWMT report from last week...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMpNRckWRc8

And here's a report of the radiation yesterday...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMhlHYBa1ZY


-b0b
(...conspiracy!)

Interesting... I have heard an increasing number of fireworks lately, but that seems to be BS from the reporter. 

As for the radiation, should I be wearing a hazmat suit?  How do you see these as being related?  Where was the radiation for the 9 days between the events?

A very bold web retailer has added a 6.8% tax for users still utilizing Internet Explorer 7.  It's not very smart from a business standpoint, but I have to give them props.

More here:  http://hardocp.com/news/2012/06/14/online_retailer_charges_68_internet_explorer_7_tax

http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Kogan.jpg


-b0b
(...too bad Opera is a recommended "upgrade.")

Sally Ride passed away today.  Ms. Ride was the first American woman in space.

http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/SallyRide.jpg


-b0b
(...ride, Sally, ride!)

Quote:

Peter Jackson announces a third 'Hobbit' film by Josh Rottenberg Apparently, when it comes to Middle-earth, director Peter Jackson thinks three is the magic number. Last month at Comic-Con, Jackson teased fans with the idea that he was interested in pushing beyond his planned two-film adaptation of The Hobbit. Today, after weeks of intensive talks with Warner Bros. over how exactly that might be achieved, Jackson announced on his Facebook page that he is, in fact, going to turn The Hobbit into a trilogy.

More here:  http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/07/30/peter-jackson-third-hobbit-film/

Only Peter Jackson could turn The Hobbit into three movies.  The Lord of the Rings is about 1,200 pages in total, so roughly 400 pages per movie.  The Hobbit is approximately 300 pages long, or 100 pages per movie.


-b0b
(...lulz.)

From what I've heard, he didn't want to do three, but only two movies, but the studio kind of forced him into it.

X

Windows 8 launches on October 16th, and reviews of the last release candidate make it sound as ridiculously unusable as it was when I tested it in May (screenshots a few posts back).  It sounds like a horrendous marketing flop in the making.  Hopefully, Ballmer will get his act together and nix this release before it hits shelves.

http://www.pcgamesn.com/article/why-i-m-uninstalling-windows-8


-b0b
(...wow.)

From what I've been reading I think I'll stick to my current platform until Windows 9 =p

It looks like I'll have to switch back to AMD in a couple years.  Speculation has it that Intel's next chip, Haswell, will be the last chip that has a ZIF socket design.  In other words, everything after that won't be removable and will be permanently soldered to the motherboard.  Long story short, the build-it-yourself market is going to disappear (or, more likely, shift to AMD) because your motherboard and CPU are going to be a single piece of hardware.

http://semiaccurate.com/2012/11/26/intel-kills-off-the-desktop-pcs-go-with-it/


-b0b
(...LAME.)

The only upside to that is then you don't have to worry about mounting everything and you can probably find some good deals.

But ya, ASUS and AMD might get back into the race of things.  Intel has been slipping in stocks too when matched up against ARM.

CERT took an unusual step on Thursday by recommending people disable Java due to a number of unpatched vulnerabilities that are currently being exploited:

http://www.us-cert.gov/current/#us_cert_releases_oracle_java


-b0b
(...stay frosty!)

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02/07/stargate-sg-1-unleashed-announced

Yes please!

Someone wake up, Eric and let him know about this.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/02/13/many-questions-system-shock-2-comes-to-gog/

X

http://www.gog.com/gamecard/system_shock_2

Has anyone bought anything off GOG.com?  Is it usable with Steam or does it just give you an install separately?

X

Our new LAN party copy of Empire Earth came from GOG.  They're a pretty good company.  The games come as a DRM-free executable.  They aren't "Steam games" but you can launch them from Steam if you add them to your library.


-b0b
(...admittedly not a regular customer.)

Was getting trek images and stumbled on this:

Las Vegas Almost Built a Full Scale USS Enterprise From STAR TREK

http://collider.com/star-trek-enterprise-vegas/

http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/star-trek-uss-enterprise-vegas-concept-600x214.jpg

http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/star-trek-uss-enterprise-full-scale-600x276.jpg

Wow, I'd love to see that project revived!

NVidia's new GTX 700 series is just around the corner.  A few juicy details and some new reference slides have been leaked.  Forgive the engrish:

http://www.gamingtron.com/nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan-expert-reviews-and-performance-report/

7.1 billion transistors?  Holy crap!


-b0b
(...wants one!)

With graphene technology, batteries are poised to make a massive leap in both capacity and output.  This short video provides some very interesting information about "super super-capacitor" technology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtM6XJlynkk


-b0b
(...can't wait for a 20 hour laptop battery.)

Apparently, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher have been approached about starring in the next Star Wars film.  Interesting!


Quote:

Harrison Ford has already said he's interested in reprising his role as Han Solo in the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII, and now his Star Wars co-stars Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher are looking to revive their characters Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia as well, according to reports. More here:  http://tv.yahoo.com/news/mark-hamill-carrie-fisher-return-star-wars-films-140500285.html

-b0b
(...maybe it won't suck.)

Lucas said that if they did not want to return, their characters would be "written out of the film, instead of recast".

How does one "write out" Luke Skywalker from Star Wars?

"Where's Luke?"

"Oh he's on a diplomatic mission."

"Ya?"

"Ha ha...no...he's trying to defeat the Batman!"

http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/batman/btas/bios/joker/20.jpg

http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/Clerks3.png

Just....awesome!

X

GENTLEMEN!!!...I GIVE YOU....

http://i.imgur.com/xR07nYk.jpg

I was considering posting the Ender's Game poster, but I've convinced myself that movie is going to suck.  I just can't see Ender's Game being brought to the big screen in any way that isn't going to suck.

Here's a poster for another movie I'm pretty geeked about:

http://www.TWNCommunications.Net/Other/PacRim.jpg


-b0b
(...giant mecha battles FTW!)

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/03/26/independence-day-sequel/



Quote:

It’s been almost almost 17 years since aliens destroyed the White House and the Empire State Building in Roland Emmerich’s 1996 blockbuster Independence Day. But the world’s monuments aren’t safe yet. Emmerich, whose action-packed White House Down hits theaters June 28, says he plans to wreak a new round of havoc in two sequels – ID Forever Part 1 and ID Forever Part II. The films take place 20 years after the original, when a distress call sent by the first wave of aliens finally brings reinforcements to Earth. ”The humans knew that one day the aliens would come back,” explains the director, who completed two scripts with Independence Day co-writer Dean Devlin and has given them to White House Down writer-producer James Vanderbilt for a rewrite. ”And they know that the only way you can really travel in space is through wormholes. So for the aliens, it could take two or three weeks, but for us that’s 20 or 25 years.”

and X never believed me...

Quote:

and X never believed me...

To be fair...he's been telling me about this since 8th grade.

X

X wrote on Mar 31^st, 2013 at 5:48pm:

Quote: and X never believed me... To be fair...he's been telling me about this since 8th grade. X

How long have we been bugging Briney about Battlefield Earth?


-b0b
(...thinks we should be pretty close!)

That'd be 11th grade.

Well, 2016 it is.  I'll buy the popcorn.


-b0b
(...BFE FTW!)

This guy reach in my brain and done saided what I thinks-ed!

http://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/scifi/ron-moore-tv-star-trek-movie-star-trek.html

While I agree that I love the old Star Trek shows, I really don't understand your hatred of the new movies Patsy lol.

Agreed.  The new movie was entertaining, and guess what - that's why I drop $10 on a movie ticket!

I do agree with the gist of the post, though.  Star Trek: TNG is rarely remembered or loved because of the intense action scenes and graphical hoo-haw.  It's remembered fondly because of the character development, dramatic and developing storylines, etc.  These are not concepts that translate well into a two-hour feature.


-b0b
(...bam!)

The_Fat_Man wrote on Apr 5^th, 2013 at 9:16am:

I really don't understand your hatred of the new movies Patsy lol.

Well there are several reasons. 

1) The first being is that the movie was marketed by the movie, the director, and writer as the beginning of the great friendship of Spock and Kirk in the Academy.  It did not do this.  Oh sure, they meet there and they interact in some bulls**t fashion.  But there isn't anything that shows me they are friends in the movie at all.

2) I can understand wanting to write with your own Star Trek universe and not have to be beholden to the original series but that means you can't steal from the universe you are destroying.  You have to use a character from the original universe, you also steal Spock from there, and you steal information that invalidates a major character (covered later).

3) Kirk is played for laughs.  You see everyone talk about his like he's this great leader and amazing guy.  Were we see this is a cutaway with the text that reads something like "7 years later" and we see Kirk promoted to a level that you'd never be able to attain with the way he acts.  He's a joke of what people have of Kirk (womanizer, brash, smarmy) and this is seen in the stupid scene where his face and hands react to what Bones is doing.  You see his trying to take over a star ship.  You see it in every scene he is in.

However, in the original series, Kirk was a dynamic leader who believed in the order of command and the ways of Starfleet.  He could be brash and not obey commands at times but those are very few and far between.  He demanded respect for himself and the chain of command because he gave it.  In the movie, he just does whatever he wants and people seem to just say "That's our Kirk.  Ha ha ha."  NO!  He would get kicked out the Academy for the way he acts.

3) All the other crew members fail to be as good as the original cast.  Spock no longer chooses between his human and Vulcan side but instead cries over and over again.  He is no longer a counteract to Bones (who was his opposite in my opinion - not Kirk).  U'hurah is regulated to Spock's sex object.  Heck, they even had to dumb her lines down because the actress can't remember and speak them.  Chekov is made into some prodigy and takes over parts of the ship that has crew specifically trained to run the machines.  Sulu is regulated to carrying a sword because of a throw back to one episode in the original series.  And Scotty...he's a screw up on an ice planet who's also thrown in for laughs.  Only Bones is remotely likable in this film - he retains the most of the original series.  And let's not forget the hero of the movie - Christopher Pike.  He's the one that really saves the day.  But he's also an idiot because after all the things Kirk has done, he puts Kirk in charge of a federation starship.  Why not Spock?  Because F SPOCK, that's why!  Out of anyone Spock should have been put in charge and Kirk should have been one to scrub the photon torpedo.

4) Let's deal with Scotty since I brought him up.  Scotty is the most useless character in the whole movie.  And I hate saying that.  Simon Pegg was a great choice for the role.  So what's the big deal with this?  Well he's completely devalued by Old Spock.  Hey Scotty, you revolutionize transport technology with information that human, Vulcan, Klingon, etc. haven't figured out yet.  And what does Old Spock do?  Just gives it to Kirk.  Thanks, Scotty.  You were real helpful.  Where everyone else gets to add to the plot or have at least a fight scene - you get to tell jokes.  Because that's what this movie is - a joke.  It has no love for the source material.  It wants to make its own while lambasting the material it is stealing from.

5) Vulcan is wiped out.  Well there goes the Federation's biggest alley.  It sets back all the things we learn about Vulcan culture and backstory (the Ka aka Vulcan soul transfer we learn about in Kahn and Enterprise).  Spock looses his mother which ties the real Spock to his humanity in the original series.  And 10,000 Vulcans live - somehow (emergency beam out - because all planets have that situation planned for).

6) Spock.  Bye bye everything that made Spock cool.  In this universe, he doesn't choose his Vulcan side as his dominant side (as seen beautifully done in the Animated Series).  We see him cry and act on instinct and throw hissy fits.  We see him be petty and act stupidly.  You do not get to see the cold Vulcan reasoning.  This is seen in two main places.  The trail of Kirk when he cheats and when he's struggling for control of the bridge from Kirk.  Cry cry cry.  That's all he does.  Oh, let's make out with U'hurah because that's all she's good for - to support her man.

7) Nero.  What's Nero's plan?  Well he wants to go back in time to save his little girl.  Ok, that's pretty cool.  What does he do instead?  Opens a portal to a parallel universe where he attacks a federation starship randomly instead of heading to Romulus and try and help save his planet.  But then he had to take out Old Spock.  Ok, I get that - esp. with the "oh so subtle" name of Nero.  But then he hangs around this universe for 20ish years and attacks Vulcan.  Why doesn't this make any sense.  BECAUSE THIS IS A DIFFERENT UNIVERSE!  This isn't the Vulcan he's blaming for not helping his girl.  This is Earth 2 or Earth Prime or Earth 223 is DC comics.  This would be like me going to another universe and killing Hitler and expecting to help my universe with his death.  Nope, different one, moron.

Ok, I think I can stop at 7.  But there is so many more reasons and I didn't even go into the cinematography or direction or acting.  In fact, Old Spock is the only good thing I can think of about this movie.  The talk he's giving to new Kirk about him being old and not having control of his feelings.  And talking about the death of his friend, Kirk.  It was very touching.  But then, he's just out of the picture because JJ Abrams is done with his carcass.

Ok...ok...I'm done...for now.

X

X wrote on Apr 7^th, 2013 at 9:02am:

1) The first being is that the movie was marketed by the movie, the director, and writer as the beginning of the great friendship of Spock and Kirk in the Academy.  It did not do this.  Oh sure, they meet there and they interact in some bulls**t fashion.  But there isn't anything that shows me they are friends in the movie at all.

Keep in mind this is a two hour action-oriented movie, not a multi-season dramatic TV show.  I personally wasn't interested in watching a soap opera, so I'm glad the story moved at a brisk pace.  You simply aren't going to stuff that much character development into an action movie.  Besides, this is a well-known and well-loved property, so it is hard to blame the writers for not wasting an hour going into great depths on the interaction between Spock and Kirk.



X wrote on Apr 7^th, 2013 at 9:02am:

2) I can understand wanting to write with your own Star Trek universe and not have to be beholden to the original series but that means you can't steal from the universe you are destroying.  You have to use a character from the original universe, you also steal Spock from there, and you steal information that invalidates a major character (covered later).

I disagree.  The whole purpose of writing an alternate storyline is to allow you to borrow the elements you want from the original storyline (e.g. the universe, the characters, etc) while taking the plot in a new direction that isn't wholly compatible with the original storyline.  This is quite common in Japanese dramatic media, perhaps less so in American media.



X wrote on Apr 7^th, 2013 at 9:02am:

3) Kirk is played for laughs.  You see everyone talk about his like he's this great leader and amazing guy.  Were we see this is a cutaway with the text that reads something like "7 years later" and we see Kirk promoted to a level that you'd never be able to attain with the way he acts.  He's a joke of what people have of Kirk (womanizer, brash, smarmy) and this is seen in the stupid scene where his face and hands react to what Bones is doing.  You see his trying to take over a star ship.  You see it in every scene he is in.

I'll agree with this to a point.  The idea that Kirk would be given command of the brand-spankin'-new flagship of the fleet following his activities in the Academy borders on absurd.  That said, I again stress the limitations of a two-hour action movie.  Honestly, I thought Kirk's character was very well written and I thoroughly enjoyed his antics.  I don't think a super-serious Kirk would have worked in this movie's paradigm at all.

Personally, if this were my movie, I would have rewritten the end of the Academy bit altogether.  I think the writers might have missed the entire point of Kirk beating the Kobayashi Maru.  Instead of a court martial, I think I would have had Kirk dressed down by an instructor, then immediately applauded by the same instructor for thinking outside the box.  If you recall, in Wrath of Kahn, Kirk mentioned he received a commendation for "original thinking" for hacking the Kobayashi Maru.



X wrote on Apr 7^th, 2013 at 9:02am:

However, in the original series, Kirk was a dynamic leader who believed in the order of command and the ways of Starfleet.  He could be brash and not obey commands at times but those are very few and far between.  He demanded respect for himself and the chain of command because he gave it.  In the movie, he just does whatever he wants and people seem to just say "That's our Kirk.  Ha ha ha."  NO!  He would get kicked out the Academy for the way he acts.

Somehow, I think you and I watched a totally different original series.  Kirk was a brash womanizer and he repeatedly jeopardized himself, his ship, his crew and the Prime Directive for the sake of an interesting episode.  This isn't TNG we're talking about here.



X wrote on Apr 7^th, 2013 at 9:02am:

3) All the other crew members fail to be as good as the original cast.  Spock no longer chooses between his human and Vulcan side but instead cries over and over again.  He is no longer a counteract to Bones (who was his opposite in my opinion - not Kirk).  U'hurah is regulated to Spock's sex object.  Heck, they even had to dumb her lines down because the actress can't remember and speak them.  Chekov is made into some prodigy and takes over parts of the ship that has crew specifically trained to run the machines.  Sulu is regulated to carrying a sword because of a throw back to one episode in the original series.  And Scotty...he's a screw up on an ice planet who's also thrown in for laughs.  Only Bones is remotely likable in this film - he retains the most of the original series.  And let's not forget the hero of the movie - Christopher Pike.  He's the one that really saves the day.  But he's also an idiot because after all the things Kirk has done, he puts Kirk in charge of a federation starship.  Why not Spock?  Because F SPOCK, that's why!  Out of anyone Spock should have been put in charge and Kirk should have been one to scrub the photon torpedo.

I'll give you some leeway with Uhura.  I understand the need for a sex object to get box office sales, but Uhura was incredibly marginalized as little more than eye candy.  This is a particularly egregious failure considering the ground broken by Nichelle Nichols in the original series.

I must totally disagree with your take on Spock, though.  The entire movie dealt with his struggle between his human and Vulcan lineage.  I felt the movie was very much a "coming of age" for Spock and I think it added a much-needed dose of character development to the film.  I fully expect to see a much more Spock-like Spock in the next movie.  Personally, I thought the admission of Sarek about his love for Amanda Grayson and the tragedy of her loss was particularly moving.  Hell, I thought it was one of the finest moments in the entire film!

I think Scotty and Bones were brilliantly cast.  I never would've thought of putting Simon Pegg in Scotty's role, but it was a fantastic decision.  I think his personality fits the role perfectly.  As you said, Bones was a perfect copy of his TOS counterpart, and that one really fit well into the new dynamic.

I enjoyed Chekov's lines and I think the part was cast well, but admittedly he was a bit of a "fixture" character that seemed to exist solely because he had to.



X wrote on Apr 7^th, 2013 at 9:02am:

4) Let's deal with Scotty since I brought him up.  Scotty is the most useless character in the whole movie.  And I hate saying that.  Simon Pegg was a great choice for the role.  So what's the big deal with this?  Well he's completely devalued by Old Spock.  Hey Scotty, you revolutionize transport technology with information that human, Vulcan, Klingon, etc. haven't figured out yet.  And what does Old Spock do?  Just gives it to Kirk.  Thanks, Scotty.  You were real helpful.  Where everyone else gets to add to the plot or have at least a fight scene - you get to tell jokes.  Because that's what this movie is - a joke.  It has no love for the source material.  It wants to make its own while lambasting the material it is stealing from.

Again, we're talking about a plot device in a two-hour action movie.  It's not the choice I would have made, but then again, I've never written a movie that grossed $385 million at the box office.  I think the writers made it clear this was only one of a large number of discoveries Scotty would make, and he would have eventually made it anyway, so I don't think Scotty was devalued much by the revelation of the transporter technology by Spock.  Besides, there are plenty of way to play this into Scotty's favor moving forward, as he can now spend the time that was devoted to this invention to other discoveries.



X wrote on Apr 7^th, 2013 at 9:02am:

5) Vulcan is wiped out.  Well there goes the Federation's biggest alley.  It sets back all the things we learn about Vulcan culture and backstory (the Ka aka Vulcan soul transfer we learn about in Kahn and Enterprise).  Spock looses his mother which ties the real Spock to his humanity in the original series.  And 10,000 Vulcans live - somehow (emergency beam out - because all planets have that situation planned for).

This is easily the most controversial decision in the film, but I think my biggest problem with it is the nearly complete genocide of the Vulcan race.  The Vulcans have had warp technology since at least 900 B.C., so I find it hard to believe that virtually their entire population was on Vulcan.  In 3,000 years, you'd think they'd have spread out to quite a few other planets of their own, not to mention the substantial populations that would live on planets owned by other intelligent species.  They are natural diplomats, after all.  Hell, there should be a few million of them on starships alone!

Even the 10,000 that escaped Vulcan seems really low.  Nero didn't destroy the planet instantaneously, so why wasn't there a larger population that was able to escape?  Why wasn't Nero every confronted by some sort of military/police response from the planet?  Again, these guys have been capable of interstellar travel for 3,000 years, so I fail to believe they would have much trouble dealing with one crufty old mining ship, even if it is full of special "black hole juice".



X wrote on Apr 7^th, 2013 at 9:02am:

6) Spock.  Bye bye everything that made Spock cool.  In this universe, he doesn't choose his Vulcan side as his dominant side (as seen beautifully done in the Animated Series).  We see him cry and act on instinct and throw hissy fits.  We see him be petty and act stupidly.  You do not get to see the cold Vulcan reasoning.  This is seen in two main places.  The trail of Kirk when he cheats and when he's struggling for control of the bridge from Kirk.  Cry cry cry.  That's all he does.  Oh, let's make out with U'hurah because that's all she's good for - to support her man.

I covered this earlier, but again, I disagree completely with your take on Spock.  It's obvious he's struggling with the dichotomy of his human and Vulcan sides.  Personally, I'm glad the writers included this bit because it really fleshes out Spock as a character.  Again, his discussion with Sarek toward the end of the movie is a brilliant piece of dialogue.  It shows the audience that Spock isn't some kind of automaton that is incapable of emotion, and it really demonstrates the immensity of the statement that Vulcans can feel emotions at a much deeper level than their human counterparts.

So, yeah, when Spock is faced with an emotional dilemma in the future, I think we'll see him handle it seemingly effortlessly, but we'll be aware that deep inside he's facing turmoil far greater than his counterparts can even imagine.  That is good writing.



X wrote on Apr 7^th, 2013 at 9:02am:

7) Nero.  What's Nero's plan?  Well he wants to go back in time to save his little girl.  Ok, that's pretty cool.  What does he do instead?  Opens a portal to a parallel universe where he attacks a federation starship randomly instead of heading to Romulus and try and help save his planet.  But then he had to take out Old Spock.  Ok, I get that - esp. with the "oh so subtle" name of Nero.  But then he hangs around this universe for 20ish years and attacks Vulcan.  Why doesn't this make any sense.  BECAUSE THIS IS A DIFFERENT UNIVERSE!  This isn't the Vulcan he's blaming for not helping his girl.  This is Earth 2 or Earth Prime or Earth 223 is DC comics.  This would be like me going to another universe and killing Hitler and expecting to help my universe with his death.  Nope, different one, moron.

I see we've already invoked Godwin's law.  ;p 

So if you wound up in a different universe, you wouldn't kill Hitler?  Sure, it's not going to change things in the universe you came from, but you can't change things there, so why not do what you can here?

I think Nero's basic premise was understandable.  His little girl and his entire planet died and he believed the Vulcan's were responsible for it.  Why wouldn't he want to exact vengeance upon them?  If anything, I think the biggest complaint that could be levied against this part of the storyline is that it's ridiculously cliché.  Seriously, this is a plot that is older than dirt.


-b0b
(...spent way too long on this.  ;)

As far as your comments go on the Vulcans go bob....

In Enterprise you learn that the Vulcan's find space exploration and colonization an irrational past time.  They think species should focus on their own planet and surroundings.  During the Enterprise time line, the Vulcan's have barely explored any space at all.  So it doesn't surprise me that they haven't spread out all over the galaxy. 10,000 still seems low.

As far as their patrol ships.  At this point in the timeline Vulcan is a full fledged member of the Federation, and as such most of their ships would be part of Starfleet, which we see get basically annihilated in the movie during the Enterprises initial outting. So perhaps they didn't have any ships capable of messing with Nero's super advanced bad ass ship?

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Keep in mind this is a two hour action-oriented movie, not a multi-season dramatic TV show.  I personally wasn't interested in watching a soap opera, so I'm glad the story moved at a brisk pace.  You simply aren't going to stuff that much character development into an action movie.  Besides, this is a well-known and well-loved property, so it is hard to blame the writers for not wasting an hour going into great depths on the interaction between Spock and Kirk.

I agree with the "it's only 2 hours" statement.  However, you are asking everyone to completely forget about the universe JJ is stealing from and to just accept his changes.  I think the movie would have greatly benefited from building the story around Kirk/Spock.  Make us love them.  Make us see them become friends and trust each other and learn from each other.  What did we see?  Them HATING each other and then just tolerating each other because Pike said so.


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I disagree.  The whole purpose of writing an alternate storyline is to allow you to borrow the elements you want from the original storyline (e.g. the universe, the characters, etc) while taking the plot in a new direction that isn't wholly compatible with the original storyline.  This is quite common in Japanese dramatic media, perhaps less so in American media.

And last time I checked, this is 'Merica!  This wasn't just borrowing the elements from Trek.  This was raping the entire universe we knew for what JJ wanted.  It reminded me of the South Park with Lucas/Spielberg raping Indiana Jones (and I tend to give Indy 4 a lot of breaks others don't).  This is the same thing the Star Wars prequels did.  Nope, it's not the Force that flows through us and surrounds us.  It's mediclorians.  Storm Troopers are all clone that the creator just forgot about.  Darth Vader was a whinny kid inside a black tin can who didn't like sand.  I don't like this new Star Trek for the same reasons the Star Wars prequels failed (and almost for the same reasons).


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Honestly, I thought Kirk's character was very well written and I thoroughly enjoyed his antics.  I don't think a super-serious Kirk would have worked in this movie's paradigm at all. Personally, if this were my movie, I would have rewritten the end of the Academy bit altogether.  I think the writers might have missed the entire point of Kirk beating the Kobayashi Maru.  Instead of a court martial, I think I would have had Kirk dressed down by an instructor, then immediately applauded by the same instructor for thinking outside the box.  If you recall, in Wrath of Kahn, Kirk mentioned he received a commendation for "original thinking" for hacking the Kobayashi Maru.

And I don't think we would want a super serious Kirk.  We want a Kirk who is still rough around the edges and still trips over his shoelaces.  But for some kid who wants revenge on the guy who killed his father, he sure did try to do everything possible to be expelled from that chance.

And I agree completely on your take with the Maru.  Again, it's JJ attempting to elbow us in the side and raise an eye brown and say "Eh?  Eh!  Remember that thing!"


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Somehow, I think you and I watched a totally different original series.  Kirk was a brash womanizer and he repeatedly jeopardized himself, his ship, his crew and the Prime Directive for the sake of an interesting episode.  This isn't TNG we're talking about here.

I think we did watch a different series.  Kirk had some ladies but so did TNG (heck some of them weren't even real - creepy).  Also, I know you are being facetious with "this isn't TNG" but Kirk and Picard both jeopardized each other by always being on the away team.  Both crews struggled with the Prime Directive (not as poorly as Voyager pounded it from behind without lube).  But I think you are looking at the parodies and tropes of TOS and making them standard episode plot points.  I'm not saying TOS is perfect, nor TNG is bad.  Heck, the only series I can never defend is Voyager.  But it's not as bad as you seem to recall.


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I must totally disagree with your take on Spock, though.  The entire movie dealt with his struggle between his human and Vulcan lineage.  I felt the movie was very much a "coming of age" for Spock and I think it added a much-needed dose of character development to the film.  I fully expect to see a much more Spock-like Spock in the next movie.  Personally, I thought the admission of Sarek about his love for Amanda Grayson and the tragedy of her loss was particularly moving.  Hell, I thought it was one of the finest moments in the entire film!

Spock didn't struggle with his Vulcan/humanity.  He faked his Vulcan side to hide his humanity.  And it wasn't until broken Spock could be taken care of by his woman (what chick doesn't love broken guys?) that he's able to be himself.  Let me just say that I was the most happy about Zachary Quinto being cast as Spock.  His work in "Heroes" showed off his great potential for playing the beloved, green blooded Vulcan.

I know you could hit me with the "only 2 hours" thing again.  However, in TOS Spock was introduced to us just as he was.  We knew what kind of character he was because Nemoy did an excellent job.  You could have done a flashback and heck, even referenced the Animated Series which would have won me over for that sole reason (seriously, the Spock episode is a must watch).  But all that aside, I wanted to see a friendship formed.  I saw R2D2 in a pile of debris instead.


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Besides, there are plenty of way to play this into Scotty's favor moving forward, as he can now spend the time that was devoted to this invention to other discoveries.

Or we can just keep bringing people from the real universe to give him what he would discover and make him a lazy non-essential.  I think it would have been more fun with Old Spock would have said something like "maybe look at how the delithium crystals are aligned".  And then have Scotty go on "A Beautiful Mind" type epiphany with techno-bable and everything.  Push him in that direction, but don't just give him the finished product of HIS hard work.


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Again, these guys have been capable of interstellar travel for 3,000 years, so I fail to believe they would have much trouble dealing with one crufty old mining ship, even if it is full of special "black hole juice".

And you can't tell me that Romulus didn't want to use this tech for wiping out planets.  These things are The Death Star if you can have some defense ships in escort.  Take those puppies to Earth, Romulans!  You'd win for sure.


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Again, his discussion with Sarek toward the end of the movie is a brilliant piece of dialogue.  It shows the audience that Spock isn't some kind of automaton that is incapable of emotion, and it really demonstrates the immensity of the statement that Vulcans can feel emotions at a much deeper level than their human counterparts.

And depicting him as an automaton would have been horrible because he is not that.  When Spock in TOS thought he killed his captain he attempted to maintain composure and when Kirk revealed himself as alive, we saw the Vulcan retreat and the humanity break free, but it was quickly replaced.  That was a beautiful scene in TOS.  In the movie, I just imagine U'hurah's jumper just being all snotty with Spock's hissy fit boogers.


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I see we've already invoked Godwin's law.  ;p So if you wound up in a different universe, you wouldn't kill Hitler?  Sure, it's not going to change things in the universe you came from, but you can't change things there, so why not do what you can here? I think Nero's basic premise was understandable.  His little girl and his entire planet died and he believed the Vulcan's were responsible for it.  Why wouldn't he want to exact vengeance upon them?  If anything, I think the biggest complaint that could be levied against this part of the storyline is that it's ridiculously cliché.  Seriously, this is a plot that is older than dirt.

Hey, what's a debate without a Hitler reference.  I could use Pearl Harbor attack if that helps.  And no, I wouldn't help next door's universe because I'm out for revenge on the Japanese fleet and this isn't the Japanese fleet that attacks MY base.  This is a different timeline where Michael Jackson remained black his entire life.

Also, for Nero it's not about helping this universe.  It's about getting revenge.  To kill Vulcan here leaves "the real universe" (as I call it) with a happy Vulcan planet who is now free from Romulas and can Fawn Par in peace.

And for a plot point that is cliché, JJ ruins it by placing it in another universe.

I don't know if you guys watched the TV show Eureka.  But the show eventually followed some characters from the main group to an alternative timeline.  One of the characters had a special needs son and newly born baby girl in the original timeline.

Well the characters get moved to this alt. version and never go back to their original.  In this new one, her kid isn't special needs anymore and her baby is now aged by about 2-3 years.

However!  No one ever talks about leaving a special needs kid and newborn baby alone for the rest of their lives in the original universe.  The writers wanted to change some things up and said "F it" to the original timeline and wanted you to only care about the new one...although they got to use the transfer from one timeline to the other as a plot point a few times.

This tells me that the mother character didn't really care about her real children and boy, thank goodness her kid isn't retarded any more and she doesn't have to change poopy diapers...she got to miss all that!

That's what this Star Trek universe reminds me of.

X