Comment Re:Who cares, really? (Score 1) 587
We mve at our own pace (and hence the resistance of the OP topic perhaps.)
I have just started Bester's The Stars My Destination for the first time, even though I've been reading sci-fi for over 40 years.
Comment Re:Bring Back Aero Glass (Score 3, Insightful) 159
I remember setting that fir tree picture as the desktop patterin in Windows 95 and thinking, "Thank god that flat shit is over." Well here we are
And why not list top 10 changes instead of top 5?
6. Make Google default search engine.
7. Make Chrome default browser.
8. What's this Coppy animation? Nooooooooooo!
9. Fix NSA backdoors.
10. You may not name your virtual currency "Coin(r)"
Comment Make a federal case out of it - learn this term (Score 2, Insightful) 42
This is an early warning sign of encroaching European federalism. Your grand children will think of themselves as Europeans, pay homage to that government, and turn to it for legislation rather than France, or Germany, or Luxumburg, the New York, California, and Rhode Island of Europe.
What state do you live in? "I live in United Kingdom!"
Comment Re:April FAGS day (Score 1) 58
Here's a better April Fool's submission: "Slashdot reader has sex!"
Comment Re:You have removed my news source for the day (Score 1) 58
"Allow me to have 57 words with you..."
Comment Re:testing method? (Score 1) 82
I always assumed there were people who did this for Windows. to search for spy data streams of one type or another. Is there?
Comment Re: What an Embarrassingly Vapid Article (Score 3, Funny) 477
Speaking of long, boring trips, finally! No more one-handed driving!
Why More 'Star Wars' Actors Don't Become Stars 360
HughPickens.com writes: When you become an actor, landing a role in a movie as big as Star Wars may seem like a dream come true. But Tatiana Siegel and Borys Kit report at The Hollywood Reporter that six movies in, the Star Wars franchise has only spawned one megastar: Harrison Ford, unusual for a series of this magnitude. Neither Ewan McGregor nor Liam Neeson was helped by the franchise and the list of acting careers that never took off is even longer, from original stars Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher to Jake Lloyd (young Anakin Skywalker) and most notably Hayden Christensen, whose star was on the rise when he nabbed 2002's Attack of the Clones. Even Natalie Portman, who already had a hot career before Episodes I-III, admitted she struggled after the exposure. "Everyone thought I was a horrible actress," says Portman. "I was in the biggest-grossing movie of the decade, and no director wanted to work with me."
So what's the problem? "When you sign up for this, you're signing your life away, and you're keeping yourself from any other franchises out there," says an agent whose client is one of the stars of Episode VII. "They will not let you be in another franchise. They're going to be cranking out a new movie every year. These actors never get to read the script before signing on. They don't even know which [subsequent] one they are in. And then they become known for that role, and it's hard to see them in [another] kind of movie." Still, agents keep pursuing roles in the upcoming films even though newcomers can only command a meager $65,000 to $125,000 for Episode VII. "It secures all involved a place in film history," says agent Sarah Fargo, "and guarantees a huge global audience, enhancing an actor's marketability."
So what's the problem? "When you sign up for this, you're signing your life away, and you're keeping yourself from any other franchises out there," says an agent whose client is one of the stars of Episode VII. "They will not let you be in another franchise. They're going to be cranking out a new movie every year. These actors never get to read the script before signing on. They don't even know which [subsequent] one they are in. And then they become known for that role, and it's hard to see them in [another] kind of movie." Still, agents keep pursuing roles in the upcoming films even though newcomers can only command a meager $65,000 to $125,000 for Episode VII. "It secures all involved a place in film history," says agent Sarah Fargo, "and guarantees a huge global audience, enhancing an actor's marketability."
Comment Why do you think they want power? (Score 1) 14
Well good. Let's play off governments around the world against each other, as the fear of lagging the other guy strikes sufficient terror into the hearts of elected politicians to overcome their proud accomplishment of the glacially inertial regulatory state, requiring a decade of "donations" to move things along.
It's sad it has to come down to this.
Comment Free (Score 2) 198
"I should have known when the instructions told me to give him £50 out of my wallet, too."
Comment The butting edge (Score 2) 42
Man, porn is driving the craziest shit.
Comment Re:Google's attourneys should be kicked out of the (Score 1, Troll) 56
If people opted out and were still tracked, that's fair game for suing.
Now what's the damages? A government trying to duplicate Chrome + Google search engine could not do so, and you'd probably have been taxed a hundred pounds per taxpayer in a failed attempt to do so.
So I'd offer to settle to keep allowing you to use Chrome and Google for free, or get the hell off and go to IE and Bing.
Comment Dot (Score 1) 341
I was trying to figure out what this had to do with Slashdot, then it hit me.
Of course. Fat Man.
Comment Re:Paranoid, but mostly appropriate (Score 1) 90
The problem in requiring people to kneel and get permission from government to do things IS the primary problem differentiating economically powerful, free nations from those bogged down with kickbacks required for a dozen different actions per day.
It matters not why the government block occurs (good old corruption or Jesus appearing in the sky claiming how awesome-O the regulation is), economics are hindered.
If a free society wants some regulation, it should be from agencies more responsive than this. It's taken a freaking year for them to "permit" tthis, and that reflects massive popular pressure on elected officials. Remember the mantra of Obama's regulators when they took over: "Wedon't have to care about things like this. They were fucking proud of it.
Comment Hey baby it's cold outside (Score 1) 136
Lois on couch: Peter, it was like that time you participated in Talk Like A Pirate Day.
Cut-Away Peter: G'day, mate! I'll have some beer and backbacon, eh?
Peter on Couch, sad: I...I don't know how Icelanders talk.
