What Would a Machine Say?
New Scientist had a contest, asking people what a conscious machine’s first words would be. My first thought: “Feed me…” What do you think?
Posted in High-Tech, Humanity, Less Interesting News, Thinking Out Loud, Weird by Eran with 7 comments.
Review: The Long Kiss Goodnight
The Long Kiss Goodnight is the story of a high school teacher with retrograde amnesia who, upon meeting a scamming private detective, starts to discover her hidden past and find that there are very bad men out to get her. That is because she is an ex-government assassin and not a chef like she thought she was. I remembered The Long Kiss Goodnight as another one of those great action movies that are not as appreciated as it should be. So before I even started rewatching it, I looked it up. And I found this guy, Shane Black. He’s the screenwriter. He wrote this movie. And he wrote The Last Boyscout. And he wrote the Lethal Weapon series. And the Last Action Hero. All awesome action movies. Because they are written as action movies and not just action scenes with a semblance of plot or movies with some action in them. And the most important thing, they had awesome dialogue. Here are some examples: Mitch Henessey: [singing] Putting the keys in my left pocket. Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm. Gun in the right-hand side. Samantha Caine: It makes a bulge, people can see. Mitch Henessey: Ya want me to stick it in my pants and shoot my damn dick off? Samantha Caine: Now you’re a sharpshooter? Mitch Henessey: What I’m saying is, back when we first met, you were all like “Oh phooey, I burned the darn muffins.” Now, you go into a bar, ten minutes later, sailors come runnin’ out. Continue Reading →
Posted in Reviews by Eran with comments disabled.
Sustainability Model
After watching a specific TED talk, I got myself thinking. I wasn’t thinking about rebuilding the health infrastructure, thought that is admirable, I was thinking about The Model. Whenever people talk about starting up, about building a company, they talk about their business model. And when they don’t, I’m always interested. But I find that I don’t care about how they make money. I care about how they sustain their vision. Because I don’t believe in aiming for a lot of money. Me… I’m thinking about making enough money to stop worrying about it. But mostly, I want to make enough money to sustain myself, my family and my vision. So I think that it shouldn’t be called a Business Model. We should redesign this idea to be a Sustainability Model: Not how to make as much money as possible and whatever or whoever’s expense but to make money to finance the ability to support this vision and more to come.
Posted in Practice, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with comments disabled.
Review: We Bought a Zoo
“It’s a zoo.” Is not something you would expect to hear when looking for a new place to live. But that is one Benjamin Mee hears when he thinks he’s found the perfect place to start a new, six months after his wife dies. His little girl Rosie is thrilled. His son Dylan, not so much. His new staff is skeptical and especially his new Zoo Keeper Kelly. But he is determined to make it work. For his family, for the grounds, for the crew and for the animals. That is how We Bought a Zoo stars. And if you’re as movie-savvy as me you might be quick to classify it in the “Getting back on your feet after a tragedy” set of journey movies under the umbrella of light-drama. And you’ll be right. It is that kind of movie. And it’s a stellar example of its kind. The first thing you probably don’t really need to know is that We Bought a Zoo is based on a book, a memoir actually, written by Benjamin Mee who actually lived the story portrayed in this movie. Obviously certain dramatizations occurred but the basic story is true. This happened. And if you know this, I think the movie will be more powerful for you. Matt Damon is a capable actor in many respects and as he gets older, he allows himself more serious, emotional roles. Scarlett Johanssen shows us again why she is a very sought out actress. Their building relationship is subtle, not Continue Reading →
Posted in Reviews by Eran with comments disabled.
The Right to Complain Isn’t Free
We tend to take the right to complain for granted. It’s usually considered a basic human right. Sometimes it is referred to as the IDF soldier’s first prerogative. But it’s not that easy. Sometimes, you lose the right to complain. Basically, when you get free stuff. If someone gives you a gift, you can’t really complain. They didn’t have to give you anything. They did it out of the kindness of their heart. And if you complain you might discourage further gift giving in the future. And that is something you definitely don’t want to do. Let’s take Louis C.K.’s example (of a somewhat unrelated issue) of a guy sitting in an airplane complaining that the wifi is unavailable. Yes, you can tell him to shut up because he’s hurtling through the air swiftly and safely (Something unheard of slightly more than a hundred years ago) and he is getting an internet connection while flying on a plane (something quite inconceivable just a few years ago) but he is paying for that right, paying quite a lot actually, and thus has earned the right to complain. Though, I would argue, that his right to complain is reduced if he’s not actually paying and not getting his service. It especially irks me when I hear people complaining about pirated games. I mean, crying about a game not working when it is a cracked version. Dude, you didn’t pay for it, you don’t have the right to complain about its faults. You got Continue Reading →
Posted in Humanity, No Category, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with 4 comments.
Review: John Carter
I don’t think John Carter‘s problem was being late to the field. I think the story, at its base, is decent enough if a bit cliched. There are some plot threads that are left hanging and it could use a little boost of intelligence but it has spunk. The characters are cool, John Carter himself is cool and the white apes fight reminded me of the Rancor fight. This could have been good. I think the main problem are the actors. The chemistry is almost non-existent, between the two leads and pretty much anyone else. The two bad guys seem like stupid Disney villains… they’re villains… in a Disney movie… well, you get my point. And even though Princess Lynn Collins is the most talented of the bunch, she’s not that great either. And Taylor Kitch pretending to be Batman pretending to be John Carter of Mars is almost completely unrelatable. I mean, his back story, which I remember working in other movies (even in Star Wars) simply did nothing for me this time around. So, it’s not John Carter’s fault, me thinks. With a tighter script, just a bit more cohesion and a set serious actors (Like the cast of Chronicles of Riddick – which was very similar and awesome, don’t argue), this could have been a good movie. But like this, I would recommended you avoid it unless you really have time on your hands or a serious movie freak like me (because time is still a luxury).
Posted in Reviews by Eran with 2 comments.
Portal 3 Anyone?
I was thinking, Portal 2 ends with “Want You Gone” and it has the line. “You have you short sad life left. That’s what I’m counting on.” That is, it’s like GlaDOS is counting on Chell not being a problem for very long. So, here’s an idea. Portal 3: Lots of years in the future, Chell’s granddaughter is the first one to take her grandmother’s story seriously. That is, after she finds the age old portal gun in the attic. And she has her grandmother’s persistence and is even more proactive. She follows the parts/serial numbers/sales receipt back to Aperture Labs where she finds an advanced GlaDOS, an advanced testing program, more gizmos, more weird stuff, a better portal gun (that works on more surfaces), adversary robots (Hello, Atlas, P-Body and friends) who try to foil her with their own portal weapons, and where she might need to stop GlaDOS from consuming the world with her testing initiative. Valve… Here’s your pitch. Go.
Posted in Gaming, Geekdom by Eran with 4 comments.
Review: The Matrix DeZIONized
Basically, the second and third movies of the Matrix trilogy pulled into one with out any of the Zion scenes. The end result: A two and a half hour movie that actually has better pacing, allows you to follow the plot, is tighter and doesn’t really delve into stupidity. Too much. There are the occasional moments where you think this might be silly or cliche but hey, it’s the Matrix. They popularized if not invented this shit. Over all, there are two thing I can say about it. I consider it the definitive ONLY sequel to the great movie that is the Matrix. It’s not a perfect one but it’s better than Reloaded and Revolutions combined on their own. The editors are right. Sometimes, less is more. So, I would recommend it on that regard. The second thing is, if you haven’t seen the Matrix sequels yet, you should probably watch this. It’s better. If you have, you probably have one of two opinions. You either thought the movies were somewhere between ok and good. Or you think they were somewhere between shit and an abomination. If you are of the latter category, there is probably not a lot I can say that would convince you. If you are of the former, I urge you to give this another go. You might be surprised.
Posted in Reviews by Eran with 5 comments.
Syndicate Reboot Didn’t Work
That’s the quote from a release made a while ago by an “EA Boss”. No, you idiot EA boss, I’ll tell you the nature of resurrecting old IP. You need to make the same game but with newer tech and a new story; Not to completely change the fundamental aspects of what made the previous game awesome. You just can’t take a tactical cyberpunk game and make it into a 3D shooting gallery. As was previously said: Those who aren’t familiar with Syndicate will stay away from it, afraid they won’t get it. And those that are will be extremely disappointed with the new game because it’s not the old one. So you can just admit you already had the game and were afraid to venture on a new IP so you took the Syndicate name and a few gimmicks and called it a game. Gibeau further explained that EA has “numerous brands” that he finds worthy of making a comeback. He did not say what any of these properties were, but said it’s possible these franchises could be reborn on next-generation platforms. Translation: As one of the biggest gaming companies on the planet, we own a lot of your childhood memories and will feel free to rummage through them in search of names that will trigger your insatiable nostalgia and then we will make a 3D shooting gallery out of them just to spite you. And they aren’t the only ones committing this sin. But you know what the worst Continue Reading →
Posted in Gaming, Less Interesting News, Practice, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with 2 comments.
What Struck Earth in 775?
Yes, that’s 775 CE. A huge increase in radiation levels over the course of a year with no known astronomical reason. I smell a secret history story. Anyone?
Posted in From the Writing Desk, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with comments disabled.