Steaming Pile of Sunday Quickies 111
Finally a chance to break in my cheesy little "Quickies"
icon *grin*. First up is
Miguel "Mr GNOME" de
Icaza who wrote in to point us at Open
Resources which looks like a pretty nice site.
NiceGuy wrote in to say that
Propaganda 6 is out if you happen to be
sick of your desktop- some of the finest textures I've seen
yet.
Rob Biggs wrote
in to say that Transmetta has
opened up their website. *cough*.
Aurik sent us linkage to
some geek toys like a
plasma fire saber and
mass drivers and rail guns
Jowey
wrote in to say that ReBoot has been
bought by the
cartoon network and will be re-aired. Now I gotta get a dish.
broken sent us a link
to the Pig Dance. Is
anyone else really sick of these?
Brian Fair sent us
linkage to a sticker that I guess you could
put on
your big truck if you have one. Those things amuse
me. I've seen them with Ford Logos and stuff, I guess it
was only a matter of time.
Ah well, thats it for me. I'm gonna wail on some
badly tuned power chords, watch Futurama and just take it
easy for a bit.
Futurama is worth a look (Score:1)
thats transmetta, not transmeta (Score:1)
stickers (Score:1)
Transmeta's pop-up ad. (Score:1)
through insane advertisement.
damn calvin stickers (Score:1)
later.
Dyslexic.
Reboot (Score:1)
Reboot [mainframe.ca] has been running on Cartoon Network for a couple of weeks now (I have to watch it, I have three boys). They're showing the episodes in their original order. Season 1, Episode 11 "Talent Night," runs Monday afternoon.
According to the web site, there's a chance they may produce a new season, but it seems to be up in the air.
I can't wait to see the episode where Sailor Moon gets squished just as she's about to save Mainframe...hehehe.
Try "View Source" on www.transmeta.com (Score:1)
Also, "There are no tyops [sic] in this web page."
I wonder if they're keeping track of how many hits they get on that supposedly "not here yet" page? Probably quite a number.
Eric
--
About the light saber (Score:1)
Truck Stickers (Score:1)
Transmetta vs. Transmeta (Score:1)
Another interesting tidbit is that Transmetta's (three 't's) html source contains the line: <META NAME="GENERATOR" Content="Visual Page 2.0 for Windows - Trial Version">
But unfortunately there were no funny comments in the html. Thats the best thing about Transmeta's page.
I sincerly hope that Fearless Leader's employer would never use the tools of the enemy (grin).
ad on transmeta's page? (Score:1)
stickers (Score:1)
I allways thought those stickers were a little trashy, but if anyone could make one of the mozilla lizard leaking on the IE's e logo, I'd plaster it on every vehicle I own.
Say hello to iVac (Score:1)
heh
*Dance (Score:1)
broken sent us a link to the Pig Dance. Is anyone else really sick of these?
I'm sick of seeing them on slashdot, if that's what you mean.
I feel a bit ripped off (Score:1)
"Plasma" stuff EXPENSIVE (Score:1)
why did this get demoted? (Score:1)
Looks score 1 to me. If it was previously lower, I guess because it gave the joke away.
Anyway, I figured:
META NAME="GENERATOR" Content="Visual Page 2.0 for Windows - Trial Version"
...was unlikely for the real transmeta site...
:-)
dylan_-
--
Propaganda is WAY cool, but "for Linux"??? (Score:1)
--
Timur Tabi
Remove "nospam_" from email address
stickers (Score:1)
The "Artistic Sensibilities" of Bill Watterson (Score:1)
His comic strip was a part of him. It was something that he loved doing and chose to share with the rest of us. He took pride in his work and did not wish to commercialize it. Personally, I too would love to let my kids have a stuffed Hobbes. But, out of respect for him and his wishes I wouldn't buy one even if I knew where one was.
I find it distastefull and extremely disrespectfull of the man and his work to flagrantly go against his decision.
Re: Labeled as a dangerous device (Score:1)
Once you pull the pin, Mr. Grenade is no longer your friend.
Alcoholic Robot Named "Bender" (Score:1)
-E.R.I.C.
Punto Bueno (Score:1)
-Eric
Why a Vacuum Cleaner? (Score:1)
-Eric
Futurama is worth a look (Score:1)
-The Comic Book Guy, Simpsons Episode 4F12
That out of the way, I rather liked Futurama, although there was so much setup involved that I wonder if it'll have a running plot, or instead be as episodic as The Simpsons.
Some good throwaway gags, interesting use of cgi.... Ehh, I'll give it some time to develop; Simpsons blew until they realized that Homer was the heart of the show, not Bart.
Point... (Score:1)
dancing pigs is there a point (Score:1)
If life had a point wouldn's some kids already have killed themselfes on it and some one sued the maker?
okay this was a lame post
Transmeta (with one t) (Score:1)
damn calvin stickers (Score:1)
Now I fear for open source... (Score:1)
Where do you want to suck today? (Score:1)
Suck Different (Score:1)
Futurama (Score:1)
Seriously, though - it wasn't at all bad for a premiere. Even the Simpsons stank in their first season, but Futurama doesn't look bad at all. I particularly liked the cameo by "blinky."
Always be the same (Score:1)
Automan vs. Airwolf (Score:1)
And Airwolf could kick Blue Thunder's tail rotor *any* day.
The "Artistic Sensibilities" of Bill Watterson (Score:1)
I think the answer is to be found in something Watterson wrote for one of his books -- something I found absurdly pretentious. Basically (if I remember correctly), he didn't want to "cheapen" his art by commercializing it.
Yes, I think that's pretentious. Without question Calvin & Hobbes was well done -- probably one of the best ever -- but let's not go pretending that it's anything other than what it is: a comic strip. As far as I'm concerned, Scott Adams is a genius for making as much money off Dilbert as he can, while he can. Not every comic can be a Blondie or Peanuts, which seem to be eternal money makers. Eventually they get cancelled. Why not make as much off it as you can? Sure, it's commercial, but so what? Once you're financially independent (thanks to sound business decisions) you can really devote your time and energy to making your "art" as good as it can possibly be, if you wish.
The whole argument as Watterson presented it seemed ridiculous -- like society owed him something. Sigh. But the man could draw, and I think it was the funniest strip I've ever seen.
realvideo clip of it? (Score:1)
Rail Guns (Score:1)
Hey, I've always had a perverse fascination with powerful devices
I feel a bit ripped off (Score:1)
"Our server freaked out trying to create a web page for you.
Seriously, I thought it was a pretty good joke on us.
D
----
I feel a bit ripped off (Score:1)
Azul.
Futurama (Score:1)
All around it was thoroughly entertaining and densely packed with jokes. It will be interesting to see where they take it.
-josh
Futurama (Score:1)
Futurama (Score:1)
Transmeta's pop-up ad. (Score:1)
Since when was the simpsons politically correct? (Score:1)
Reboot (Score:1)
Why a Vacuum Cleaner? (Score:1)
Futurama was great! (Score:1)
3rd season? (Score:1)
Now if Cartoon Network would pick up the old SatAM Sonic the Hedgehog series, life would be perfect....
I suck, therefore iVac (Score:1)
Yeah, I need that Calvin sticker (Score:1)
Wouldn't this fall under 'parody' of both Calvin
& Hobbes and Microsoft? If so, US copyright law
allows free use of their copyrighted material.
Any copyright attorneys on
like the vacuum icon (Score:1)
newsletter called "Vacuum" for about a year now.
It's about one bezillionth the size of Slashdot, has less than two hundred regular readers, and comes out only 2x/mo (in a good month).
It has its share of quickies, but most of it
is more deliberate. A recent issue compared
the Slashdot effect to the impact that a
regular guided tour bus has on a city (the
tourists become part of the place they're touring).
thanks
Ed
emv@umich.edu
Transmetta (Score:1)
Futurama is worth a look (Score:1)
Bill Watterson needs a life (Score:1)
I was reading the introduction to one of his books (I'm not a fan; it was on someone's coffee table) where he was talking about the reasons for not merchandising. This guy really needs to get over the fact that what he was producing was a COMIC STRIP. It's not something that's destined to hang on the walls of the Louvre. It's not something holy that's going to be "lessened" or "cheapened" by having stuffed dolls and t-shirts all over the place.
I never really got into Calvin and Hobbes (I'm a Dilbert/Far Side/Garfield kinda person), but after reading Mr. Watterson's little vendetta, I know I'll never go out of my way to read his strips.
-Chris
Reboot (Score:1)
Transmeta uses LINUX? (Score:1)
Why a Vacuum Cleaner? (Score:1)
Rail Guns (Score:1)
Still, they seem strangely compelling.
Futurama (Score:1)
Did anyone else catch the label on Bender's beer bottle?
About the light saber (Score:1)
Yeah, I need that Calvin sticker (Score:1)
Only one problem. There are some nasty copyright, etc. issues with Calvin. What if it was Tux instead?
That's my point (Score:1)
Golden Raspberry Nominee (Score:1)
IF YOU'VE SEEN THE TRAILER, WHY BOTHER TO SEE THE MOVIE?!? (Previews That Give Away The Film's ENTIRE Plot)
From http://www.razzies.com/1998.html [razzies.com].
Hey, Someone else... (Score:1)
damn calvin stickers (Score:1)
Lets email United Media and point it out to them..
Calvin stickers (Score:1)
...
Well, let me just quote him. I think it's pretty clear that this would have "pissed" him off: (emphasis mine)
"And making the whole issue even more absurd, when I didn't license, bootleg Calvin and Hobbes merchandise sprung up to feed the demand. Mall stores openly sold T-shirts with drawings illegally lifted from my books, and obscene or dug-related shirts were rife on college campuses. Only thieves and vandals have made money on Calvin and Hobbes merchandise."
I don't know, seems pretty clear that he wouldn't like some picture of Calvin urinating on various entities. Do you really doubt this?
(see my other comments in this thread)
--
damn calvin stickers (Score:1)
The point was not that he was making his own, the point was that he was gauging demand so he could make up some and sell them to everyone else.
Sorry you missed this.
--
The "Artistic Sensibilities" of Bill Watterson (Score:1)
This is so ridiculous, it's hard to know where to start. But the basic principle is that you're down on this guy because he wasn't greedy. He made enough money to get through life and left it at that. Is that so hard to comprehend?
He also avoided being a hypocrite. His characters were always talking about how bad commercialism had become and how corporations manufactured our culture. So rather than completely sell out so he could have a mansion and a yacht, he chose to maintain his integrity.
It boggles the mind that you can fault the man for this.
Would you call Linus a genius if he accepted the millions I'm sure M$ would throw his way to stop working on Linux?
--
damn calvin stickers (Score:1)
Personally, I hope unitedmedia gets all over his ass about this. He's worried about Microsoft's trademark? No one who respects the integrity of C&H or who's ever read Waterson's comments in the C&H 10th anniversary treasury would even think about supporting crap like this.
--
calvin is already... no excuse (Score:1)
Ahhh, so because people are getting away with it, it's okay?
Sorry, I don't buy that. They get away with it because no one has reported them. ("Them" being the people who are selling it). There's also the fact that the bootlegging has become so rampant, there just isn't enough money to stamp it out.
--
About the light saber (Score:1)
Also, does it cauterize? That would make sense, since Luke's arm is not gushing forth blood after getting his had cut off in Empire Strikes Back.
re: 3rd season? (Score:1)
That said, I can still see watching it just because it's reboot and reboot rocked. (I know I did).
Star Wars clips on 60 minutes! (Score:1)
dancing pigs (Score:1)
That quickie logo... (Score:1)
I know, that was bad.
Yeah, I need that Calvin sticker (Score:1)
> There are some nasty copyright, etc. issues with Calvin.
I don't think there are. Calvins creator (Bill Watterson, IIRC) just doesn't want any Calvin merchandize.
-- Abigail
one other thing... (Score:1)
Thank you for Propaganda (Score:2)
For the past 9 years I've lived with computers all around me. At first I had the black background of the VT terminals and Apple IIs. Next I migrated to the multifinder on a MacPlus. This was a big transition for me, with the new 'grey' background and all. I mean, who would ever want such a fancy background.
Well... I soon got over my shock at seeing that horrible grey. Later, when Windows and MacOS 7 came out, I was able to switch back to lovely solid colors. I mean, those are the bomb. Don't get me wrong, but solid is cool. It doesn't clutter a thing. It reflects zero personnality. It's blah!
That is, until I saw propaganda [themes.org]. I don't know what I was thinking. I mean, just to think that I was being un-American with my desktop! For all I know, my desktop color was the cause for the war in Kosovo right now. Well, I'm glad to be rid of my old plain desktop.
I suggest to all you conservatives who live for the green on black to go to propaganda [themes.org]. Check it out, you'll learn something.
Being a geek has its perks. (Score:2)
So, you might ask why a 12 V car battery shouldn't hurt you if you touched both of its terminals, but a live electrical socket could, even though the battery has more current. This is because Ohm's law prevents it. People's resistance varies wildly, but mine was 400k the other day, from finger to finger. This means that the 12 V battery could only ever push 30 uA through me (Current = Voltage / Resistance). At 120V, it's 300 uA, 240V 600uA, etc... The higher the current, the more dangerous. Of course, these calculations are inaccurate, since Ohms' law doesn't necessarialy apply to liquids, but it's a good start.
If I remember right, 10 mA is the sense threshold, 30 mA pain, 100 mA fibrilation, +300 mA burning. Interestingly enough, our teacher told us that 100-300 mA is the most dangerous zone, since above 300 mA "all" that happens is internal and external burning... between 100-300 mA your heart beats very irregularly and might as well be stopped. Another jolt of electricity is required to start it working properly again... Hence those zapper thingies parmedics apply to heart attack and fibrillation victims.
Funny I remember this stuff. I had hoped I'd never need it (I usually forget stuff I don't need...
Lastly, on to why the battery makes your tounge tingle, but not your finger. If you measure the resistance of your tounge (may be bad... don't sue me for any effects it causes. mind you, if you've licked 9v batteries, you're probably OK), you'll find it much lower than that of fingers. Lower resistance means more current. More current, more "danger. I bet you'll find the resistance of your toungue to be in the 1k - 10k range...
Reboot link here (Score:2)
Alex Bischoff
---
Being a geek has its perks. (Score:2)
OK.
I'm not one to bitch about CmdrTaco's posting methods usually, but I just gotta say:
Fully functional lightsaber-like portable plasma unit for *SEVENTY BUCKS* and it's just a *QUICKIE*? Oh my. I know of Star Wars addicts who would buy three: Two for the wall in the classic sword formation, and one for doing things that are illegal in the state of Alabama.
Hurm. Maybe that explains it. Malda has a better grasp of the Dark Side of the Force than the rest of us...
Another clip from that site: One of the Railgun capacitors has a kilowatt capacity and, *I QUOTE*, will "Explode Small Wires".
Another device will create 300,000 volts of usable current--i.e. not a stun gun. I wonder what that would do to your tounge; 9 volt batteries are already pretty tingly. (Note to PsychoGeek Community: You're better off with the aforementioned lightsaber.)
Very cool--they have a hand-held negative ion generator. What's cool about these things is that the static stream can be modulated to do some really funky things. Place a large metal mixing bowl on top of a negative ion generator, in contact with the leads. Fill with salt or flour. Slooooowwly put your hand in, and the salt/flour will literally fly off the bottom of the bowl and coat your hand. Get too close to the bowl and you'll get a small shock though
Of course, if you think that's bad, turns out these guys will, for a hundred dollars, sell you a small, easily concealable hand shocking unit--no, not a buzzer, actually a small shock unit. Too bad shocks can hurt you sometimes more than they hurt the target, or else certain crimes would become much more interesting. (Imagines attempted rapist yelping away after picking the wrong target.)
Quote:
"Plasma Guns"
"Projects high frequency waves capable of igniting lights and producing energy fields without wires or contact! Excellent for testing neon or fluorescent tubes without removal from this sockets."
'Nuff said on that one.
"Caution Man-Trapping Is Illegal!!"
--Notice on stun guns from this site. Am I the only one who gets this hilariously updated image of the old Caveman-Get-Girl-By-Bonking-Her-On-Head, then Cavegirl-Get-Man-By-Bonking-New-Man-On-Head scene? Heh baby, I've got your ExplosiveSparkDischarge(TM) right here...
From the Big F'in Potato Gun Department: "Beer Can Mortar"...hurm, launch me a six pack from a state where twenty year olds can drink...
Alas, I'll have to suffice with the Neon Geekware that these guys peddle. Nice stuff, I gotta say--eighty bucks for a neon clock that changes through two sets of two colors as time goes on. Changing from pink to blue, though? Great, I already have to mention to out-of-staters that, even though I'm from San Francisco, I still prefer women...
I can just *see* Rob: "What part of Commander *TACO* *don't* you understand?"
Being a geek has its perks.
Once you pull the pin, Mr. Grenade is no longer your friend.
Transmetta vs. Transmeta (Score:2)
It's the ONLY thing in the transmeta web page
Calvin stickers (Score:2)
I doubt that Waterson gives a whit about them either. His objections to licensing the image were
a) It would take his time and attention from drawing the best comic strip he could,
b) It would necessarily put him under pressures to water down the strip to make it more palatable to potential licensees, and
c) Seeing the characters shilling for products would simply degrade their impact in the strips.
A case in point is that other comic strip that's used to sell Met Life insurance here in the U.S. Does anyone else find it in the least ironic that A Charlie Brown Christmas complains about how Christmas is getting too commercial in between the Dolly Madison Bakery commercials? (Make no mistake, Peanuts was deep and intellectual for a comic strip back in the '60s, much more so than it is anymore.)
While I'm not exactly ecstatic about these guys trying to make a buck on Waterson's creation, I don't see these stickers similarly degrading the impact of Calvin and Hobbes comic strips. When I was in college, I saw an ad advertising a rock band appearance at a local bar. It had Calvin going apoplectic shouting "Rock and Roll!!!" while Hobbes strummed a guitar in the background. Probably not exactly what Waterson had in mind, but not nearly as out of line as shilling for milk
-----
Just a wee bit annoyed bout the "transmetta" page. (Score:2)
Now, if there had been something even remotely funny about the page that would have been an interesting diversion. But this guy just made a killing at our expense.