Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Looking for Monsters

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  • InternationalObserver,

    </spoiler>

    But that thing at 1.29? That's a monster. A big one.

    A friend of a friend of mine worked on the film. Although it's SciFi, it's set in the near future. That monster running amok in NYC is Rudy Giuliani, engorged by the rage of a million disappointed Republicans ...

    Since Jun 2007 • 909 posts Report Reply

  • MikeE,

    For those bitching about quick time try QT Lite, formally known as Quicktime Alternative without all the nasty bundled crap.

    I installed it last nite to watch all the trailers in HD goodness on the 40" LCD :-)

    Washington DC • Since Nov 2006 • 138 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    engorged by the rage of a million disappointed Republicans

    Crikey. He must be huuuge.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Given his views on the Urewera 17, that seems just a tad hypocritical.

    Calling for armed rebellion only seems to be a problem if you are brown, green, or red.

    Clearly, I/S, you are unused to debating doctrinaire libertarians. They are never wrong or inconsistent, even when they are both.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Following Perigo sounds like the 'spank Monkey' option.

    When he calls his website "Solo Passion", he's really walking smack into that joke, isn't he?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    That's why I can't believe it's not a joke. Surely he's not THAT dumb. It's got to be the most obscure acronym ever: Sense Of Life Objectivists???? Until you work out that it's an Ayn Rand bookstore, it really could be anything. I thought it might be Scientologists, but there's a thread in there where Scientology is derided because it places too much faith in the works of a fiction author. That's when I realized it's a joke site.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    engorged by the rage of a million disappointed Republicans
    Crikey. He must be huuuge.

    Heh. I had an architecture professor who took a very physical approach to studio criticism - he'd demolish models in front of shocked students, saying, "It doesn't need this... or this... or this..." and usually end with some little stick and shred and an triumphant "See? here is your idea."

    I often joked that if someone wanted an alternative to Godzilla, it should be a gigantic mutant architectural critic wandering through a city wrecking buildings with good reason.

    Personally I've always felt that Te Papa could be greatly improved with a surprisingly small quantity of plutonium.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Idiot Savant,

    Clearly, I/S, you are unused to debating doctrinaire libertarians. They are never wrong or inconsistent, even when they are both.

    I tend to ignore doctrinaire Libertarians, the same way I ignore Jehovah's Witnesses. Really, they're just another bred of religious whacko, dedicated to the great cult of Saint Ayn.

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    You couldn't have that plot in NY though, unless the critic was a total philistine. Which does actually sound much like your professor, whose idea of excellent architecture is a pile of ruins.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Idiot Savant,

    Personally I've always felt that Te Papa could be greatly improved with a surprisingly small quantity of plutonium.

    Only at the cost of also taking out Courtney Place and the cafes of Cuba St. Which is rather too high a price to pay.

    (Wellingtonian in spirit, if not in location).

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Not that I've got anything against good philistine art. Their art is in the doing. Creative destruction is beautiful - it's just a bit to easy to be a hack.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Hamboy,

    Finn, thx 4 da warn-off. Got a look at it after dling 20MB of Quicktime updates and 20 mins installing, crashing Firefox again

    I had the problem with it crashing in firefox. Think one of the recent firefox updates broke something. To fix it I just downloaded and installed the free version of Quicktime again. No issues with it crashing again or it including itunes etc
    Of course I have just moved and I'm wait for broadband to be reconnected and don't have quicktime on my work pc. So I will have to wait a few days to see the trailer.
    It's amazing how much more you get done in a day when you don't have the internet at home.

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 162 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    whose idea of excellent architecture is a pile of ruins.

    Woo-hoo, I get to pull a Godwin. Albert Speer, understanding the full operatic arc of rise and fall that Hitler had planned for the Third Reich, actually selected building materials on the basis of the ruins that they would make so as to inspire far future generations. "Ruin value" is what he called this theory/criterion. Okay, I'm not really comparing anyone to a Nazi, just making an incidental observation - but does it count?

    Only at the cost of also taking out Courtney Place and the cafes of Cuba St. Which is rather too high a price to pay.

    In the words of General Turgidson, "I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed!" There's a distinct Strangelovean element in architecture; I'm not sure if megalomania is just an occupational hazard or a requirement.

    Have a look at this example of extreme civil engineering.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Finn Higgins,

    Indeed, it seems to me that the entire paradigm of software sharing libraries is totally flawed. Whatever minuscule and totally unimportant gain there is in library disk space and supposed instant access to improvements across different software is totally overshadowed by the instability introduced by the different pieces of software requiring different versions of the libraries due to having been developed at different times and possibly not kept up to date. I dread every single Windows Update, because it always kills something.

    That's where you need to get into proper management of shared dependencies, something Windows has never even come close to doing right. Linux sort-of gets there sometimes with apt-get and so forth - it's certainly a lot cleaner than Windows, although it still fouls up nicely at times. That said, the let's-just-static-link-everything approach falls down too, when you get things like mod_php5 and mod_python cheerfully crashing Apache when used in tandem because they both statically link different-and-incompatible versions of the same piece of compression code. Software sucks ;)

    Wellington • Since Apr 2007 • 209 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Have a look at this example of extreme civil engineering.

    Wow, that's messed up. Make a good site for tourism though. "Hey yes, some surf and fish and swim in our harbour. Created by five thermonuclear bombs!" Right up there with "Chernobyl: The quietest tourism destination on earth."

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    Clearly, I/S, you are unused to debating doctrinaire libertarians. They are never wrong or inconsistent, even when they are both.

    I never met a Randroid that would pass the Turing Test.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Finn, I'm all for totally independent pieces communicating over defined interfaces. Still breaks, but at least you get a log line "App X is talking shit to me, told it to go away" on one side and "App Y is being rude and not talking to me anymore" on the other. Everything else continues to work.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    I never met a Randroid that would pass the Turing Test.

    Doesn't mean they're not smart though! Just not Human Smart.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    Wow, that's messed up.

    Yep. The scary thing about Dr Strangelove is that the characters were based on real people. I get the impression that Edward Teller, Strangelove's model (along with Werner von Braun), loved nukes so much that he sprinkled them on his corn flakes.

    And to scare you a bit more, Project Orion

    I'm probably getting wayyyy off topic now.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    __I never met a Randroid that would pass the Turing Test.__

    Doesn't mean they're not smart though! Just not Human Smart.

    LOL.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    And to scare you a bit more, Project Orion

    Classic. I love the idea that the bigger it is, the better and more efficient. I bet the takeoff is a wild ride though. I wonder if we arrived anywhere there were aliens what they would think of an approach that involved firing 500 atomic bombs directly at them.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

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