Hatfieldje - Slashdot User

The Lost Film That Accompanied Empire Strikes Back 195

Posted by timothy on Wednesday March 10, 2010 @05:00PM from the first-reel dept.

An anonymous reader writes "'Alien' and 'Star Wars' art director Roger Christian was given £25,000 by George Lucas in 1979 to make a 25-minute medieval B-feature called 'Black Angel.' This spiritual tale of a knight on a strange quest was inspired by Christian's near-fatal fever when he fell ill in Mexico making 'Lucky Lady.' 'Black Angel' made a huge impression, not least because it shared the dark tone of 'Empire Strikes Back.' John Boorman showed it to the crew of 'Excalibur' as a template for how he wanted his film to look, and 'Black Angel' went on to influence films such as 'Dragonslayer' and 'Legend' throughout the 1980s and beyond. But it has not been seen by anyone since 'Empire' finished its theatrical run. Two weeks ago Roger Christian unearthed a print of a film that was thought lost forever, and in this interview he talks about 'Black Angel,' and provides the only picture from the film that has ever hit the Internet."

IT Students Contract Out Coursework To India 642

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday June 26, 2008 @10:08AM from the you-gotta-be-kidding-me dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Students studying computing in the UK and US are outsourcing their university coursework to graduates in India and Romania. Work is being contracted out for as little as £5 on contract coding websites usually used by businesses. Students are outsourcing everything from simple coursework to full blown final year dissertations. It's causing a major headache for lecturers who say it is almost impossible to detect." The irony, of course, is that if they actually get jobs in the sector, this will be how they actually work anyway.

Bill Gates Chews Out Microsoft 836

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday June 26, 2008 @07:57AM from the you-wouldn't-like-him-when-he's-angry dept.

s31523 writes "All of us have one time or another been completely frustrated by certain Windows usability issues, and in many cases our experiences have driven us over to Linux, or kept us there. For anyone that has ever been frustrated, you will be happy to know you aren't the only one. After reading this leaked Microsoft memo from Bill Gates back in 2003, you will surely have more insight into why Vista is a complete disaster due to Microsoft not learning anything from their experiences from XP."

Satellite Navigation a Real Crackpot! 230

Posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday April 06, 2006 @08:04PM from the asking-for-directions dept.

debest writes "What happens when your satellite navigation system in your car gives you bad advice on which road you should take? In Britain, these systems have been directing drivers down a road near the (aptly named) town of Crackpot that is strewn with boulders and has an unprotected 100ft dropoff on one side! The locals are worried someone's going to go off the edge."

Interview With Leader of Sweden's Pirate Party 476

Posted by Hemos on Monday April 03, 2006 @10:00AM from the two-party-system?-never-heard-of-it dept.

CrystalFalcon writes "Linux-P2P has published an interview with Rick Falkvinge, leader of the Swedish Pirate Party which is aiming to gain entry to Swedish Parliament this fall. (The party's founding was previously covered on Slashdot.) The party is totally for real, totally serious, and has seen approval ratings of 57% in some polls, with only four percent needed to gain seats. Its goals are to cut back copyrights, abolish patents, and strengthen the right to privacy."

Jailed Spam King Caught Conspiring to Kill Witness 290

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 24, 2006 @03:46PM from the spam-mafioso dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Spam king Christopher William Smith, aka Rizler, is facing up to life in prison for conspiracy to tamper with a witness and up to 20 years for endeavoring to obstruct justice. The charges are based on an alleged phone call in which he threatened to have a witness or the witness' family killed to prevent them from testifying against him in an upcoming trial on drug and related charges.

Sysadmin Toolbox Top Ten 304

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 24, 2006 @12:58PM from the pick-your-poison dept.

Linux.com is running a user writeup of several handy tools by an up-and-coming Linux user. It is always interesting to see how newer users are approaching system customization. What have some of the more seasoned Linux power-users and sys admins put in their "toolbox top 10", and why?

Houston Police Chief Wants Cameras in Homes 804

Posted by Zonk on Saturday February 18, 2006 @02:35AM from the would-be-funnier-if-it-wasn't-true dept.

An anonymous reader writes "In one of the most blatant and frightening statements made on privacy, the Associated Press reports that Houston's police chief wants surveillance cameras in apartment buildings and even private homes. Chief Harold Hurtt wants building permits to require cameras in shopping malls and large apartment complexes. He also wants them in private homes if the homeowner has called the police repeatedly. So, if you're in Houston, don't call the cops too much, or they might install a camera the next time they show up. And what does Hurtt have to say about privacy concerns? 'I know a lot of people are concerned about Big Brother, but my response to that is, if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?'"

A Report on Swearing in Online Games 324

Posted by Zonk on Friday February 17, 2006 @05:39PM from the oh-$%#& dept.

A Next Generation article references an informal study done on the frequency of swearing on Xbox Live. From the study: "When you logon to Xbox live more often then not you will be greeted by a 14 year old that learned a new word on the playground that day, or maybe it's the drunken 24 year old who hates black people, gays and anyone who isn't in his frat. No matter who you are if you have played on live you have run into cursing and lewdness. If you look at the rating for the game you can see that it is intended for ages 17+ but parents don't care/understand/listen so lots of underage kids have [Halo 2]." Warning: links contain profanity.

Comment what about staples (Score 3, Funny) 647

by Hatfieldje on Sunday January 22, 2006 @03:23AM (#14531162) Attached to: Best Way to Keep Papers Together

I mean, sure, I checked stapler like a lot of other people. But I did it knowing full well that I meant I was using the stapler as a paper weight to keep the papers together. And while this may very well be my second most often used form of keeping papers together, the first is certainly staples (used as a normal person would use staples to bind papers together, not pouring a pile of them on top of the papers or any other weird use... just papers stapled together)

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