Comment Re:The author has a couple of good points. (Score 1) 399
The AIDS comment was just one of many. Buzzfeed compiled a list.
Comment Kobo (Score 3) 548
Yeah, Kobo have pulled all their self-published books. Even my children's book has been removed until further notice.
Comment Re:Illusion of privacy (Score 1) 224
It depends. If Google has managed to implement one of the theoretical crypto magic solutions they may not need to decrypt to return a valid search result.
Comment Re:Both major parties are bad (Score 1) 96
The two major parties are very similar in most respects. Both parties have been trying to out-do each other in reprehensible policies.
That's because those reprehensible policies are vote winners in the swing seats, particularly in Queensland and NSW. You get the politicians you deserve.
Comment Re:Big disappointment (Score 4, Funny) 197
tsk tsk everyone knows the stargate is under Cheyenne Mountain, it probably a storage facility for pilfered alien tech
They had to move the Stargate during the Borg invasion, just before the Death Star showed up.
United States Begins Flying Stealth Bombers Over South Korea 567
skade88 writes "The New York Times is reporting that the United States has started flying B-2 stealth bomber runs over South Korea as a show of force to North Korea. The bombers flew 6,500 miles to bomb a South Korean island with mock explosives. Earlier this month the U.S. Military ran mock B-52 bombing runs over the same South Korean island. The U.S. military says it shows that it can execute precision bombing runs at will with little notice needed. The U.S. also reaffirmed their commitment to protecting its allies in the region. The North Koreans have been making threats to turn South Korea into a sea of fire. North Korea has also made threats claiming they will nuke the United States' mainland."
Comment Can we have your liver? (Score 2) 516
Comment Singapore (Score 4, Interesting) 395
Singaporeans liked the concept of Daylight Saving so much that in 1982 they moved to it permanently. Geographically they should be UTC+7 but they currently work off UTC+8.
</ useless trivia >
</ useless trivia >
Comment Re:Also (Score 4, Interesting) 865
Part of the problem is that there are now so many wardens in the way of new writers that it's almost impossible to get a genuinely original idea to the people with the money (eg. studios). Also it now takes more than having just a great script. You need a great package (insert obvious innuendo here): script, director, star.
Even then original ideas have to survive the rewrites by writers that are already part of the system. And nearly every writer believes that they can write any script better than the last guy. Everyone wants to rewrite the script: studio, producer, director, star, director's cousin's girlfriend.
What you tend to end up with is a generic, derivative mess that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike the original idea.
Given the process it's amazing that we have any watchable films at all and that's not even considering the crap that goes on after the cameras start rolling.
Comment Re:More importantly (Score 1) 159
The biggest problem with G+ is that they've rushed to release. Even the badge code for pages isn't ready. For a startup it looks bad but people would probably just shrug it off, for google it's a fucking catastrophe.
Comment Re:Same old Ballmer smack talk (Score 1) 645
You do know that things change and advance? To be honest, the expensive phones 5 year ago really weren't that good. They were clunky, slow and offered features that would be common place in cheap phones now. There's a reason why Apple didn't make iPhone before they did - they had to wait until that time it was actually feasible.
It still sounds like Ballmer is behind the curve which is not good for a tech company CEO.
Comment Re:Players do bad things because: (Score 1) 431
IIRC there were civilians in the hospital map in AA (circa 2006) and shooting them resulted in a loss of honor.
Comment Phew! (Score 1, Funny) 170
Good thing they stopped at one sequel then: Aliens.
Submission + - IOC Sends C&D To Remove Own Photos From Flickr (inquisitr.com)
skribe writes: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has sent a cease and desist notice to a committee member of the Australian Web Industry Association (AWIA) over his publication of photos he took at the Beijing Olympics on Flickr.
Comment Re:10 Years, not Infinity+ years (Score 2, Insightful) 597
More than the authors life is excessive.
I'd prefer lifetime plus some short additional period (say 10-20 years) just for safety's sake. If you make it just lifetime it wouldn't surprise me in the least if some bright, young corpling arranged for an accident or two to 'free up the rights issue we're having'. To a corp it may be considered an acceptable risk to put out a $100k contract rather than fork over a few mill for the movie rights. Just sayin'
skribe
