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Recent Posts

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3101
Living Room / Re: Animal Friends thread
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 02, 2012, 06:23 AM »
I just today wondered why no Zoo has yet decided to make an "Operating System Wing". All the big cats from OS X, and all the myriad animals from Ubuntu!
3102
Living Room / Re: Hurricane Sandy Discussion Thread
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 01, 2012, 12:35 PM »
@Tao -
I think you're missing the important 'as' in that sentence:

"In contrast to Hazel, however, Sandy was not as strong a hurricane."
that equals:
Sandy was not as strong a hurricane as Hazel.
-
Which means that they were both hurricanes - but Hazel was stronger.

Geddit :tellme:


Oh my gawd, you're right. My mind played an awful Halloween trick on me! : (  Once I'm actually reading the sentence that is actually there, I agree with you. Sorry everyone for the fuss.
3103
John Carter was supposed to be good, but it apparently wasn't (I saw it, but I'm not familiar with John Carter, so I'm lost in the discussion). 

I saw John Carter a ways back, and it struggled to "Fridge Logic" its way to hold together. The worst part for me was that they had to make it Mars. Problem is, they were basing it on source material from the days when Mars was mysterious and unknown. I kept having to do contortions of "okay, what alternate Mars are we on?"
3104
And speaking of missteps he personally picked Hayden Christensen, correct?

Hayden Christiansen is actually a decent actor- don't take the Star Wars movies as indicative of what any of the actors can do.  Any of them that managed to bring any level of characterization to the roles did that in spite of his clunky dialog and inept direction, not because of the same.  Natalie Portman and Liam Neeson are both great actors also, and suffered from the same.

The body size thing bothered me too much through all of the latter two movies. Darth Vader became as scary as he was because he was something like 6'5 250 (because of David Prowse doing the physical acting.) So I spent the latter two movies wondering "when is this pipsqueak gonna get all fed up and do the Rocky bodybuilding montage?" I saw Jumper of DVD and wasn't thrilled with H. C. there either.
3105
Living Room / Re: Hurricane Sandy Discussion Thread
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 01, 2012, 02:30 AM »
Vague Sentence alert: "In contrast to Hazel, however, Sandy was not as strong a hurricane." - In what context was Sandy not a Hurricane? When it intercepted the second front?

I think you might have misread that. It didn't say it wasn’t a hurricane; it said it wasn’t as strong a hurricane.    :)

Jim

Now I'm even more lost!  :huh:  Saying it is not as strong as a hurricane is the same thing as saying it wasn't one, right? How can it simultaneously be a hurricane and not as strong as one?
3106
Living Room / Re: Early Politicians
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on November 01, 2012, 02:25 AM »
Heh Renegade more twisty Moebius-ness is arising there.

They are asking if you "understand and agree to" those rights, yes? So how can you disagree with them? The mechanics of them using everything against you are in other sections, you aren't being given the chance to disagree with those! Only being told that you're gonna get hosed! And if you get too fancy claiming you don't "understand" the rights, it edges over into resisting arrest if it looks like you're being obtuse.
3107
Living Room / Re: Hurricaine Sandy Discussion Thread
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on October 31, 2012, 06:16 PM »
Vague Sentence alert: "In contrast to Hazel, however, Sandy was not as strong a hurricane." - In what context was Sandy not a Hurricane? When it intercepted the second front?
3108
Oh I'm sure there are lots of evil geniuses out there. I guarantee Monsanto has a few!

But of the industries that are leading directly to measures which "conveniently" overstep the stated mandate, it's Entertainment that keeps showing up, along with the War On Terror and Protect the Kiddies finishing the triumvirate. Gene patents are icky, but they don't seem to immediately lead to "we must examine blood samples daily to be sure you are not eating illegal corn."
3109
Living Room / Re: Don't You Want to be "Safe"?
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on October 31, 2012, 05:15 PM »
Extra Credit: The Supreme Court is looking at cases about sending sniff dogs onto your private property to look for evidence to nail you with too.


Oh that's going to go very well

Unauthorized dogs on my lawn are met with flying bits of lead as they are a threat to the livestock.

I wonder how the court would deal with that one.

"Sorry Officer, I thought it was a stray that would kill my chickens."

Watch them get you with a sentence of first degree murder of a police officer on duty!  :o
3110
Living Room / Re: Don't You Want to be "Safe"?
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on October 31, 2012, 04:41 PM »
Welcome to planet Earth, where every year is 1984! :P

Then the powers that be produced this:

http://news.cnet.com...urveillance-cameras/
Court OKs warrantless use of hidden surveillance cameras

In latest case to test how technological developments alter Americans' privacy, federal court sides with Justice Department on police use of concealed surveillance cameras on private property.
...
---------
The article goes on a red herring wailing about how "new" tech is vs citizen rights. Sorry, surveillance cameras are ... cameras. Cameras are the cutting edge news of 1920, though it would be hard to hide a couple of the early ones.

What has happened is that someone Sent A Memo that says "look how much fun we can have now!" For you math types out there, here's my analogy:

Divide by zero.
Now STFU about this "illegal operation crap." I SAID, Divide by Zero NOW or you are a terrorist!

And remember all that cool Founding Fathers stuff about "inalienable rights"? Sorry, rights are very very alienable. :(

Extra Credit: The Supreme Court is looking at cases about sending sniff dogs onto your private property to look for evidence to nail you with too.
3111
Heh the NSFW Humor channel does Sandy jokes.

Here's one I've been saving for a couple weeks for the right kicker.

(Lead in by Mouser)

Can we make this thread a general hurricaine Sandy discussion thread?
DC member app is in New Jersey (but not too close to shore) and has been offline since it hit.

Does The Situation have anything to say about the situation on the Jersey Shore?   ;)

3112
I'm just amazed, of all the sources of oppression, it's ... music and motion pictures? Really?! Not to commend an evil job well done, but really?! Of all the moneyed sources out there, it's those two that have managed to totally lock all of politics?!
3113
Living Room / Re: General av and anti-malware discussion
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on October 30, 2012, 07:49 AM »
General discussion of ins and outs of MBAM and other popular anti-malware, anti-spyware, av utilities etc..


What is MBAM?
3114
Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: I'm practicing how to make films
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on October 30, 2012, 07:07 AM »
That seems to be the more popular preference.  It's the same with the music I like, I seem to prefer the old-fashioned things.  What I worry about is let's say I was doing this for a career...would most people think it's old hat, or would they enjoy it?  Most people seem to think of my preferences as a been-there-done-that thing, but to me it really is a strong preference.  That's why I want to try a few of these things and see if what I like is something others would enjoy, or am I just boring them?  I'll have some musical things up soon and I'll be interested in people's reactions.

I'll go with this comment to work off of.

1. I'll leave the whole Vector - Raster thing to my betters. But the output is a picture (series of). So what if 3/4 of the art is the efficient stuff, but then you added your own little touch on top? Just briefly, though you said that background for that cartoon was beautiful, I disagree a little. Maybe I'm not a fan of White Characters on Brown Backdrops. What does seem to be showing up much more are sharper angles across all of anime, characters and backdrops alike. Not sure if that's efficiency or art at work.

2. There's no glory for hand drawing for the sake of hand drawing just to have a bar story. A million frames at at work here, right? Can't Copy-Paste-Alter cover some of that in modern software? On the simple scenes, with an easy change, you're not drawing all 14,000 frames, you're pasting the (background?) and 3/4 of the character, and just then working with the character art. That's gotta save a little time. I get the South Park theme as a 1-off, but overall I despise it from an art point of view. There's only room for like 20 minimalist entries before someone has to go back to hard work. (xkcd is another survivor.)

3. Re elsewhere, Mashups aren't really the masterpiece themselves - they're more like raw material. It's the absolute first stage of learning we need (see the copyright threads) just to get anyone ever into art. Someone borrows a scene, and a different song that says something to them, and a small point is made. That's all mashups usually are - but it's an important first step. Few people will spend the 4,000 hours to do a big project if they can't first goof off with a 5 hour mashup.
3115
Living Room / Re: Windows 8 Primer
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on October 29, 2012, 12:14 PM »
I'm disputing elegant!

I think it's the ugliest thing I have ever seen!
3116
You're funny Seraphim, but I see this as much more ominous than that. I'm just not good enough as a grade C prophet to figure out which rock we're leaving for which hard place. : (
3117
We're back to this thread. I don't even know the name of the item yet!  :o

http://www.securityw...-un-control-internet

Showdown Set on Bid to Give UN Control of Internet

"WASHINGTON - It is expected to be the mother of all cyber diplomatic battles.

When delegates gather in Dubai in December for an obscure UN agency meeting, fighting is expected to be intense over proposals to rewrite global telecom rules to effectively give the United Nations control over the Internet.

Russia, China and other countries back a move to place the Internet under the authority of the International Telecommunications Union, a UN agency that sets technical standards for global phone calls. "

-----

Backed by Russia and China hmm? Lovely.
3118
Adventures of Baby Cody / Re: United States of America visit 2
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on October 29, 2012, 10:21 AM »
Someone enlist Baby Cody to protect us from Hurricane Sandy!

"Although forecasters predicted a very bad storm, it was greatly lessened by forces unclear to experts. 'Apparently, a small plush bird arrived on the scene, upon which point the storm began to mysteriously weaken, saving the east coast billions in damages.'   "

3119
Living Room / Re: Don't You Want to be "Safe"?
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on October 28, 2012, 08:39 AM »
More traditional category here - from the "I feel safe, Canada Edition"

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...ographer-arrest.html

"B.C. teen arrested for photographing mall takedown
Lawyer says guards and police have no right to demand people's cameras"

More from the Canadian Edition:

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...et-surveillance.html

Police need new internet surveillance tools, say chiefs
Bill C-30 would give police access to internet communications without a warrant

3120
Living Room / Re: Dungeons/Zork map - here's an image of it.
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on October 28, 2012, 08:04 AM »

Iain,

"You are in a maze of forum threads all alike. You are about to be yelled at by Mouser". : )
3121
Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Vladstudio hallowe'en offer
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on October 28, 2012, 08:01 AM »
Dramatization of my apartment:

http://cdn.decalgirl...ns/_full/library.jpg

 8)
3122
Living Room / Re: Don't You Want to be "Safe"?
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on October 27, 2012, 10:11 PM »
More traditional category here - from the "I feel safe, Canada Edition"

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...ographer-arrest.html

"B.C. teen arrested for photographing mall takedown
Lawyer says guards and police have no right to demand people's cameras"

3123

Here comes the official Slashdot thread for it.

http://yro.slashdot....t-sale-doctrine-case

3124
Living Room / Re: Don't You Want to be "Safe"?
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on October 27, 2012, 10:01 AM »
Heh, knew that was gonna happen, but I'll hang on for the ride.

It's an awful, awful result, but courts don't let "rapists" off the hook for the fun of it, not in this "terrorist until proven innocent" age. (Remember those other 10 threads?) Without doing 10 hours of research, I have to go with my gut and say that there's some awful consequence of ruling the other way. We're just looking at the summary of the case, and my instincts are saying there's some tremendously complicated pitfall lurking behind here. As a 12 second guess, it might have something to do with anyone who is disabled, who deserves to flirt, so when the partner agrees, then suddenly they are an animal?! Supreme Courts only rule on the existing law, they don't get to add random new clauses to it.

So if I put my evil hat on, any pissed off disabled person could go "trolling" by flirting out of evidence range, becoming one vs the other hearsay, then claim abuse. "Oh, that would never happen" you say. I've met people like that. Then that forces the legal system to create fuzzy "standards of disability for intimate conduct" out of thin air.

That's the price of vague laws. The edge cases get really ugly.
3125
Living Room / Re: Raising the Bar on Awesomeness - LMGTFY
« Last post by TaoPhoenix on October 27, 2012, 09:43 AM »

(Ring)

Hi Renegade! This is 2010 calling. We've been here for over 2 years! Nice to meet you!

Yours,

LMGTFY

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