Abstraction Foundry » Movies

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2010-03-14

John T Davis — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:30:00 +0000

Danny DeVito brand Italian lemon liquor. Just wanted to let you know this existed in the universe. Also, I want this picture on a shirt. http://yfrog.com/0awl7qj #
Just installed VMWare Fusion 3 and opened my VMWare Fusion 2 Windows XP image. Entire computer has slowed to a crawl. App unusable. #
Bought Star Trek from iTunes; 2+ hours to download on a 10 megabit connection. 4 GB hidef version + 1.83 GB SD version + 1.47 GB “extras.” #
Just to clarify: that’s over 7 GB of information downloaded in less than 3 hours. We live in the future, and it is awesome here. #
Prediction: The Apple/HTC patent spat will never be decided in court. HTC/Apple will work out a cross-licensing deal to avoid trial. #
APPL doesn’t want to go to court over this and give HTC a chance to invalidate their patents. Think of it as aggressive license negotiations #
Time change tonight. Everybody set your clocks an hour ahead before you crash. I hate springing forward, wabbit. #

Technorati Tags: Danny DeVito, HTC, iTunes, VMWare Fusion

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2010-03-07

John T Davis — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:30:00 +0000

SciFi Channel (excuse me, Syfy) is running Stephen King’s “The Stand” on the day before my birthday. Omen? Should I be worried? #
Parents and aunt just surprised me with early birthday cake. Shining light of awesome in otherwise horrid weekend. http://yfrog.com/3l36fclj #
On TV: “Twister” and “Day After Tomorrow.” Choices, choices.
“Twister” is about sentient tornados who will hunt down and kill you, isn’t it? #
Is there a male-oriented equivalent of the Lifetime [Movie] Network? I do not think this would be possible. #
RT @BreakingNews: Roman nail dating from time of Christ’s crucifixion found in ornate box at Knights Templar stronghold http://bit.ly/cw9rtf #
Supreme Court refuses to stop D.C.’s gay marriage law http://bit.ly/91FNAW /via @BreakingNews #
“This is where WE fight! This is where THEY die!”"…I came for brownies and cocoa. Are we not still doing that?”
- Hugh Grant’s “300″. #

Technorati Tags: 300, Ancient Rome, Birthday, Day After Tomorrow, District of Columbia, Gay Marriage, hugh grant, lifetime, Stephen King, SyFy Channel, The Stand, Twister

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2010-01-31

John T Davis — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:30:00 +0000

Cleared 74 pages of Oil and Gas reading (1 week's worth) today. 62 pages of Evidence (1 week's worth) yesterday. Yay, productive weekends! #
Saints win. See you all at the Superbowl. (Seriously, this has been one of the hardest fought football games I've ever seen.) #
Just saw commercial for "Hot Tub Time Machine". Everything I've accomplished and had happen to me this weekend gone in a wave of fail. #
RT @BreakingNews: U.K. officially exits 18-month recession with figures showing 0.1 percent growth in last three months of 2009 – AP #
RT @BreakingNews: The U.S. government bans texting by drivers of large commercial trucks and buses with immediate effect – Reuters #
RT @BreakingNews: General Motors close to announcing a deal to sell Saab division to Spyker Cars NV http://bit.ly/6YeUhl #
RT @BreakingNews: NASA ends effort to free Spirit rover from Martian sand
http://bit.ly/9wwoHC #
RT @BreakingNews: Dating site eHarmony settles law suit, agrees to make Web site more "welcoming" to gays, lesbians http://bit.ly/cIN7g7 #
Anticipation.
Will existence morph again?
iThing is coming.
#haiku #apple #
RT @BrentSpiner: Didn't Captain Picard used to play with a pad like that in his ready room? STAR TREK STRIKES AGAIN!!! | #apple #ipad #
#iPad as ebook reader: should be able to have an ebook open on 1/2 of screen, and notetaking app on the other. I do this on Macbook w/ PDFs. #
RT @BreakingNews: Ford announces a profit of $2.7 billion for 2009, its first annual profit in four years – AP #
Just overheard someone who sounds *just* like Lor from #Disney #039;s Weekenders. Cool! #
RT @BreakingNews: GDP grew at a faster-than-expected 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter, the quickest pace in more than six years – Reuters #
RT @BreakingNews: U.S. wages and benefits for 2009 rise by the smallest amount on records going back 27 years, Labor Department says – AP #
#iPad will eventually have a dock-connector-to-component/HDMI video adapter. With the right software, you can then replace entire #AppleTV #
Evidence class is a lot like Criminal Law class. Reading admission rules/cases for prior sex crimes now. Flesh-crawlingly horrid stuff. #
More fantasy epics should feature heroes who ride into battle atop muscled, fire breathing winged unicorns. I have spoken. #unicornsareneat #
RT @BreakingNews: Google dropping support for Internet Explorer 6, still used on millions of computers worldwide http://bit.ly/9C9DrU #
Wanted to share some articles I've been reading around the 'Nets on the #iPad so I rounded them up and blogged them: http://is.gd/7kwbx. #
Just used Wordpress 2.9's built in WYSIWYG editor to compose a blog post. I haven't used it in years. It's gotten really nice. #
I've never stopped and listened to the words, but John Mayer's "Daughters" is one of the most sexist songs I've ever heard. #
Incredible sexism couched in a surrounding "Be a good Dad!" message. Impressive. #
Biting the bullet and starting a clean up of my OTHER email box. … 2700 messages. Oy. #
Just found a Google Voice invite in my mailbox. … How long has this been in here? I am a packrat. #
And, done. Gone from 2700 emails in my inbox to <300. Not bad at all. #

Technorati Tags: AppleTV, Disney, eHarmony, Evidence, Fantasy, Football, Ford, General Motors, Google Voice, Haiku, Hot Tub Time Machine, Internet Explorer, John Mayer, Mars, New Orleans Saints, Oil and Gas, Saab, Spirit, Spyker Cars, Texting, Unicorns, United Kingdom, Weekenders, wordpress

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2010-01-04

John T Davis — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:30:00 +0000

The World Taekwondo Federation abbreviates itself "WTF." In the digital, meme-filled 21st century, they may wish to rethink this. #
Happy New Year! Stay frosty, everyone! #
Current Facebook Ads: (1) "Rich Dad/Poor Dad"; (2) Stand with Al Gore; (3) date ad w/ woman in white dress stirring something in giant bowl. #
Obviously, I've accomplished my goal of confusing the crap out of the Facebook ad engine. NY Resolution 23 complete ahead of schedule. #
Just found something called "Midnight Meat Train" playing on the SciFi (excuse me, SyFy) Channel. I can't believe it's not porn. # [For the record, this is a horror movie based on a Clive Barker story from 1984.]

Technorati Tags: Clive Barker, Facebook, Midnight Meat Train, New Year, World Taekwondo Federation

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2009-12-20

John T Davis — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:30:00 +0000

@GMFett Indeed. It should not be so fun to watch a serial killer. Certainly shouldn't root for him. But I do. Excellent writers. #Dexter in reply to GMFett #
@ScottBourne Do you have any suggestions for books for consumers looking to get the best out of their new DSLR? Thanks for your time. #
I finished my last exam yesterday. I'm out for a month. Have I mentioned that yet? Now, just have to wait a month for grades. #
Win a new Nikon D300s (or 2000 photo scans) from @ScanCafe & Scott Bourne. Pls RT. Details here: http://bit.ly/8SJuMT #
RT @wilw: The best thing about Avatar is that it imagines a world where a program to breed Thundercats with Smurfs has been successful. … #

Technorati Tags: Avatar, Dexter, Nikon D300S, Scott Borne

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2009-09-13

John T Davis — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Anybody familiar with #GoDaddy's Universal Terms of Service? ¶4 ("Account Security") looks ominous. Standard for domain registrars? #
@dotinvesting Thanks! When I get one before I spend money, I try to read the EULA/TOS, even if it's like eating angry bees. Not fun. in reply to dotinvesting #
Why do casebooks never specify defendant & plaintiff? Case names are inconsistent; reading a few ¶s to figure out who's suing who is ungood. #
Beautiful! RT @jramey A pizza with radius "z" and height "a" has a volume calculated by pi*z*z*a. (via @danfrakes) Math is delicious. #
So Don Cheadle will be playing Jim Rhodes in Iron Man 2. I personally think this is interesting and probably awesome. Thoughts? #
AT&T Announces Rollout for 7.2 Mbps 3G service: http://is.gd/354R2. Service in some cities by year-end. #
@wilw Amazon tries to get me to buy organic oatmeal and ricecakes now. No idea why. All I buy is scifi, fantasy, and computer equipment. in reply to wilw #
Downloading #iPhone OS software update. Incredibly slow. 2+ hours to get it. Is #Apple having load balancing issues? #
@fraserspeirs Could you elaborate on this? I haven't listened to #MBW 156 yet. in reply to fraserspeirs #
iTunes 9's Home Sharing auto-copy feature only supports stuff bought through iTunes. Lame. What about CDs I own & convert to AAC/AL/MP3/WAV? #
RT @daringfireball: More Logical File System Organization With iTunes 9: http://✪df.ws/dqw #
@jsnell How does Sizzling Keys compare to Cover Sultra? in reply to jsnell #
@ElizabethKnox When 9/11 happened, I was sitting on my bed tying my shoes getting ready to go to class (high school). Watched 2d plane hit. #
RT @NASA: Image of the Day: A Day of Remembrance: Visible from space, a smoke plume rises from Manhattan .. http://bit.ly/K60gS #
RT @patricknorton: NYC as seen from space on 9/11 2001 by ISS Expedition 3 … http://bit.ly/3u4Lba (via @NASA) | Better link. #
RT @danfrakes: Confirmed with Apple: iTunes 9 Home Sharing's auto-transfer feature works only with iTunes-purchased media. #
@ElizabethKnox At least you still make them. My blog has devolved into little more than weekly archive posts of my tweets. in reply to ElizabethKnox #
Mac Users: Option+R makes the Registered Trademark symbol: ®. Just … thought I'd throw that out there. #
@ElizabethKnox I think I'd be better about it if anyone besides viagra/cialis and mortgage spam bots commented. in reply to ElizabethKnox #
Ever notice courts interpreting laws never consider that lobbyists might have been hosing money around to get a result? Guess they can't. #
Reading about how to build an "oncomouse." Patent law is awesome. #
@_Rockman_ She wanted self-defense weaponry and you gave her a vacuum? Is it combat capable? Liking the flowers, though. Very Jubilee. in reply to _Rockman_ #
@_Rockman_ That IS impressive. I'm certainly feeling less pleased with my vacuum that struggles to pick up popcorn bits. in reply to _Rockman_ #
Help! What's the easiest way to restore default carrier settings on an #iPhone? After updating to 3.1, I can't get any voicemail. #
Haven't been getting voice mail for two days. Trying to fix now. Not good. #
In search of the Big Fish. #
Using #Apple Numbers.app to put together a very simple spreadsheet. No formulas. Mostly text. Horrible, horrible lag on every operation. #
Ten percent of mammoth spreadsheet thingie done. #
Numbers.app seems to have recovered from the super lag flu it had yesterday. Thank the heavens. #
Crazy Spreadsheet Happy Time: 20% done. #
Crazy Spreadsheet Happy Time: 40% done. #
@Ihnatko Is anyone talking about football while decorating an unrelated extravagant cake? That would clearly be the 9th Circle. in reply to Ihnatko #
Crazy Spreadsheet Happy Time: 80% done. #
Crazy Spreadsheet Happy Time: 100% done. Finally. Eugh. #
Anyone else seeing snail-speed downloads from #iTunes? Or is my connection just borked for the evening? #
Banner weekend for getting stuff done. Reading in 4/5 classes done for week; Trademark assignment very close to finished. Now: exhausted. #

Technorati Tags: 9/11, amazon, at&t, Casebooks, Don Cheadle, GoDaddy, iPhone OS 3, Iron Man, iTunes, MacBreak Weekly, Patents

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2009-09-06

John T Davis — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:30:00 +0000

@choochoobear Why Baloo? Wouldn't Kit be more fitting for that role? Baloo could still be his murdered dad. Where do Rebecca and Molly fit? in reply to choochoobear #
I'd like to auction off a domain name I'm no longer using. Any guides/advice to picking a service to do this? #lazytwitter #
@louarmstrng Thanks, but I'm not looking for hosting (already using Dreamhost). I've got an extra domain I'm not using I'd like to sell. in reply to louarmstrng #
@jsnell are you envisioning Pixar-style Marvel movies, too? in reply to jsnell #
Canadians bristle over U.S. health care rhetoric http://bit.ly/vLSE7 #
For blind Facebook iPhone users: Voiceover support is coming … 3.02 update out soon which supports accessibility. (via @joehewitt) #
@legalgeekery For one, bannings don't account for disabled students (like me) who could not work without one (or less optimal substitute). in reply to legalgeekery #
Got Snow Leopard today. Can't wait to install it once I know my critical apps all work. Nice box art, too. #
Not a fan of the legal doctrine of laches, if only because I've yet to break myself of typing "latches" every time I try to talk about it. #
Am stupid. Just realized the bad but flaccid "Trade Federation" in the Star Wars prequels was likely a dig at flagging Star Trek franchise. #
@choochoobear Well, they've got to repel demonic forces *somehow.* I personally would've also included mystic runes on the doorframe. in reply to choochoobear #
Off to IP Licensing. Excelsior! #
@joehewitt I may have to use Romote Disc for my MBP, as the DVD drive is borked. in reply to joehewitt #
@joehewitt are there instructions somewhere for using a USB image? in reply to joehewitt #
Quick survey, because I'm curious: How common is the word "vacay" to refer to vacation(s)? Just heard it in a commercial. #
Overwrote all my Secured Transactions notes by accident. Autobackup would've sealed my doom, but luckily it failed to run and I got em back. #
To clarify, if my backup system had worked right, I'd have been hosed. Suddenly understand why Time Machine is awesome and I should use it. #
And now my mouse appears to be failing. Oh. It's gonna be one of *those* days. #
Just now got my Secured Transactions notes back to where they were Monday (backup was a bit out of date). So much for starting early. #
Update: Mouse not non-functional as originally thought. Desk surface so dirty mouse can no longer track movement. That's encouraging. #
I can haz brownout? #
§ 547 (Preferences) of the Bankruptcy Code makes the computer scientist in me cry. Overly long statutes are like overly long functions. #
Bankruptcy Code § 548 is little better. Eek. #
It'd be really svelte if #Apple rolled the #iTunes Remote app into #iPhone's iPod app so I could control iTunes w/o changing apps. #
UCC Art. 9 & Bankruptcy Code more like water & oil in a drill rig than peanut butter & chocolate. You need both, but they dirty each other. #
@mduncanvm do you have some articles for this. Sounds awful. I use VMWare. in reply to mduncanvm #
Terrifying moment earlier while typing when my hand completely locked up. Had to flex it to get it moving again. Hope it was a just cramp. #
@legalgeekery What are you replacing your MBP with? in reply to legalgeekery #
@TRexing Did you get a new computer? in reply to TRexing #
RT @TUAW: Cartoon Creator – a great introduction to animation in an app http://bit.ly/KcSYj [post] #
Amazon has started recommending various brands of oatmeal & rice cakes to me in email. Insulted in various ways, even though I like oatmeal. #
SuperDuper! has stopped running automatic nightly backups. Wonder if it has anything to do w/ the exclusion list I set up. Not easy to do. #
Is there a #mac app for wiping the empty space on a harddrive? #lazytwitter #
I'm getting very frequent "secure connection failed" errors in #Tweetie for #iPhone by @atebits. Is anyone else seeing this? #
AppleInsider – AT&T agrees to first constantly connected third-party iPhone app http://bit.ly/1NmLHD (via @AppleMacGeek) #
AMBER ALERT: Jourdan Keel, 4yr old, Trotwood, Ohio. http://bit.ly/v2qSZ #amberalert #ohio #missing PLEASE RT (via @dlayphoto) #
@ElizabethKnox Can't you just shoot in color and give the client the option of which they prefer afterwards? in reply to ElizabethKnox #
@ElizabethKnox I think your best bet is to provide both. People are weird about photos. What you think looks better they might think worse. in reply to ElizabethKnox #
@ElizabethKnox I'm definitely a fan of B & W photography, myself. in reply to ElizabethKnox #
Late Friday night, and I'm elbow-deep in an opinion re: California's … odd … Parole Evidence Rule as applied to license agreements. Oy. #
Oh, that's gotta hurt. The court changes/clarifies the law in your favor, and then dismisses your claim w/ laches and abandonment estoppel. #
Couple Enjoy Fantasy Wedding in Front of Huge Gundam: http://is.gd/2U6Ue. Quote: "I swear my everlasting love to Gundam in front of Gundam." #
South Dakota Supreme Court Limits Interrogation of Travelers: http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/28/2883.asp #
"Plain Talk on the 'Plain View Doctrine" http://is.gd/2U7vW 9th Circuit requires gov't to waive reliance on PVD in digital evidence cases. #
Looks like I'm not the only one having DVD drive problems. Seems endemic to several kinds of Macs. Not svelte. http://is.gd/2Uacn #
About to spend some time playng with LyX. Might be useful for drafting license provisions. Word makes life frustrating. Send pie? #
Gone through the LyX introduction and tutorial. Awesome ready to try whipping up a beautifully typeset document. Great to have a geek day. #
Any legal writers out there using LaTeX to format your docs? What templates/classes/etc. are available? #
Cannot believe I just wasted the last four hours banging my head against a typesetting program before deciding it was overkill for my needs. #
@Fisher12 That's awesome. I'm a huge fan of stylish high-contrast UIs. Reminds me a bit of the Mac OS System 1.0 Control Panel. in reply to Fisher12 #
@fraserspeirs Don't you just have to run the one-click software update thingie from the Dashboard? in reply to fraserspeirs #
#lazytweet What's safe to use to clean an LCD besides water? #
Watching Band of Brothers. Damian Lewis (Lt Dick Winters) should be cast as Captain America. That is all. #
Just discovered that staplers exist that cost over $400. I need to go lie down for a while. #
SpikeTV is running the same five commercials over and over. NOT AWESOME. #
@Pogue If you put them all in one place, don't you risk creating some sort of reality-destroying singularity? in reply to Pogue #
@Pogue For HDTVs & displays generally: can we move beyond the need for color calibration? It's non-trivial & displays ship w/ horrid color. in reply to Pogue #

Technorati Tags: amazon, Band of Brothers, Bankruptcy Code, Captain America, Damian Lewis, Disney, DVD drive, Facebook, Gundam, Healthcare Reform, Laches, LaTeX, LyX, Mac OS, MacBook Pro, Marvel, Pixar, Plain View Doctrine, Secured Transactions, Snow Leopard, Something*Positive, SpikeTV, SuperDuper!, Tale Spin, Tweetie, Visual Impairment, VMWare Fusion

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2009-08-30

John T Davis — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 02:30:00 +0000

First class of the year. Off to Secured Transactions. #
Just got delivery estimate from #Amazon for #Mac OS X Snow Leopard. September 1! Woo! #
Is #Tweetie on #iPhone broken again? #
@GMFett Ditto. I know I used to know how to do this efficiently and w/o too much stress. That know-how has hidden itself in my brain. Faboo. in reply to GMFett #
@legalgeekery I actually think that's a wonderful idea. Too many people fail to pay child support, apparently with little or no penalty. in reply to legalgeekery #
@eboehnisch am I correct in thinking DevonThink Pro Office is Mac OS 10.6 compatible? #
@legalgeekery task input in Things: cmd-shift-enter. Also, cmd-arrow key to switch virtual desktops, & cmd-space for Spotlight. in reply to legalgeekery #
@eboehnisch Cool. Thanks for the Snow Leopard compatibility info. in reply to eboehnisch #
@mduncanvm Mail Attachments Iconizer not functional in Snow Leopard yet? Boo. in reply to mduncanvm #
Things 1.2 released — Fasten your Keyboards! http://tinyurl.com/ndmu6d (via @culturedcode)| Snow Leopard & quick note autofill are svelte. #
FTC to ban most 'robocalls' Sept. 1 http://bit.ly/c7OdN #
@mashable RT Dual-Screen Laptops?! Yes, They’re Real (and Coming Soon) – http://bit.ly/ioE6E This is phenomenal. (via @mikervosters) #
Great read from @gruber on how to upgrade to a new release of Mac OS X. http://bit.ly/nupJb #
Just realized I need a working DVD drive to upgrade to Snow Leopard. My DVD drive is currently hosed and unusable. Crap. #
Saying something is "highly illegal" makes about as much sense as saying someone's "very pregnant." These are atomic states; all or nothing. #
RT @culturedcode: SyncTip: You can sync Things for Mac and Things for iPhone via USB or Bluetooth using tethering. http://tinyurl.com/ncnq6h #
My copy of Snow Leopard just shipped! Estimated arrival August 31. #
@fraserspeirs I just imagined Tintin's faithful pet attached to wires, as a Matrix-like node in a digital media ctr. Nightmares forever. in reply to fraserspeirs #
@eboehnisch Just to double check, how well is the version of ExactScan bundled with DevonThink Pro Office working w/ Snow Leopard? in reply to eboehnisch #
@maclawstudents I loved #snowcrash, but it seemed to end with a huge sequel hook. I wanted more Hiro and YT, and what happened to Enzo? in reply to maclawstudents #
Astrophysicists Puzzle Over Planet That's Too Close to Its Sun: http://is.gd/2ES9Q. #
Goodnight, Neverland. #
@fraserspeirs Is there a guide for installing from a portable drive? My DVD drive is hosed. in reply to fraserspeirs #
@eboehnisch I figure it's somewhat out of your hands too, since you don't develop ExactScan. It's been working fabulously lately, though. #
@maclawstudents I'd love to see YT and Hiro wreaking havoc together again. They're Crazy Awesome. Kind of like surreal Batman and Robin. in reply to maclawstudents #
@BodyofBreen What do you think of Carbonite? Aside from the fact I can't manage my own private key on a Mac, I like it pretty well. in reply to BodyofBreen #
Others have surely done it better, being that they are geniuses, but someday I'm gonna break down and deliver an epic rant on "the cloud." #
Programmers who are legal people: Do you find your bgnd helps in comprehending law? (e.g.: grantor-grantee index == linked list of trees) #
RT @whitehouse: Full video of the President's eulogy for Senator Kennedy, now up: http://bit.ly/AZ6NV #Kennedy #
Loading up #Things with my assignments for this semester. It's simultaneously reassuring and a bit overwhelming when I do this. #
@TUAW Totally agree. The animated Sun Maid is terrifying. in reply to TUAW #

Technorati Tags: amazon, Astrophysics, Carbonite, Child Support, devonthink pro office, Dual Screen Laptop, DVD drive, ExactScan, FTC, Kennedy, Mac OS, Robocalls, Secured Transactions, Snow Crash, Snow Leopard, Sun Maid, Ted Kennedy, tethering, The Matrix, Things, Tintin, Tweetie

The Charge of the Light Brigade … Or Not

John T Davis — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:33:06 +0000

In College, for my Communication and Memory paper I analyzed the film representations of the Charge of the Light Brigade, a pivotal maneuver during the Crimean War’s Battle of Balaclava, the subject of Lord Tennyson’s famous poem. To this end, I procured a copy of the two films about this event, the 1936 version and the 1968 version. I wrote about the older movie first.

Well, watched a movie called The Charge of the Light Brigade. There was eventaully a charge, made by a brigade … with about nine minutes left to go in the film. The first two hours were about some love affair in India and some evil stereotypical Arabic sheik that massacred a bunch of people. With 15 minutes to go, no one had uttered the words “Light Brigade,” “Crimea,” or “war,” and I wasn’t convinced I was actually watching the right movie. Given how little time I had left to watch the movies and get a rough draft done, this was rather worrisome. I’m almost certain the antagonist never actually existed, but even if he did … wow. My brain tried to escape out my ears. This movie represented itself as “a historically-inspired fictionalization.” I’ve researched the actual event thoroughly, even calling this thing an alternate reality is generous.

The good news? I planned to slam the movie as being historically inaccurate, so its horribleness worked in my paper’s favor. If it had been historically accurate, I would have had serious problems with my thesis, and it was too close to the deadline to restart from scratch. Picking apart+ the film was easier than I ever imagined.

The bad news? I’m terrified that people will watch this movie and think they’ve got some idea of what happened in the Crimean War. Every historical aspect of this movie, save the fact that the British Empire ruled India and participated in the Crimean War and the Battle of Balaclava specifically, is as far as I can tell completely wrong. Even the uniforms were out of whack.

If you watch this movie, be aware that everything you see is basically fiction. It does not reflect recorded history in any meaningful way. It does not reflect reality in any meaningful way. You’re better off looking at Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that can be edited by anyone, including people who think they are Napoleon reborn.

New life goal: Invent time machine for the sole purpose of going back in time and taking vengence upon everyone involved in this film, for the sake of the entire human race. Yes. Good plan. I hear that such a device may have other applications, like settling once and for all what killed the dinosaurs, or who killed JFK, but these queries surely pale in comparison to the vital importance of erasing The Charge of the Light Brigade from existence.

The fact that Warner Brothers had a research department whose sole purpose was to come up with historical background information for films and they … excreted … this thing is quite frankly terrifying.

I literally had a huge headache after the epic struggle between the part of me that knew what really happened and the part desperately trying to pay attention to the film enough to write about it. After viewing, I had to distract myself with ice cream and cartoons lest my brain start analyzing the myriad plotholes and implode.

Short version: Do not watch this movie if you are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, male, female, below 21, old enough to drink, or breathe oxygen. If you or a loved one comes in contact with this movie, immediately flush eyes with water and seek delicious food.

Technorati Tags: Charge of the Light Brigade, Warner Brothers

Marvel Japan’s Iron Man Anime

John T Davis — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:35:20 +0000

Found this on the Internets via a friend. As someone who really enjoyed the recent Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man movie, I love seeing such a beautifully animated feature that apparently follows the same aesthetics. Can’t tell much about the story-line yet, but from what I can see, things should be awesome. The Iron Man armor is articulated and weaponized in a way that’s just not practical in live action media (and looks gorgeous), there’s an armored magical-techno-pirate-with-missiles-and-a-cool-hat bad guy (and, I’m hoping, some kind of evil boat, but that part’s a bit ambiguous), and Pepper is her usual awesome self.

Pepper also has green hair. Ah, Japanese animation. I’m actually not sure why they didn’t just go ahead and make it blue. I wonder if hair color has some special cultural/character development significance in anime that I’ve never become aware of.

Technorati Tags: Anime, Iron Man, Pepper Potts, Tony Stark, youtube

Twitter Updates for 2009-07-28

John T Davis — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:30:00 +0000

RT @jsnell: Dear Newsweek: You don't "graduate" from "Buffy" to "Twilight." You regress. #
Been working solid for 7.5 hours. Just felt my brain literally jerk to a halt. Need to get it running again; gotta proof this thing. #

Technorati Tags: Buffy, Twilight

Twitter Updates for 2009-07-22

John T Davis — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Not impressed with the #Mac builtin fax. Virtually no details on progress. I'd at least like an estimate of time to complete & current page. #
Doing a critical upload, Dark Knight soundtrack on. Feel like I'm a star in an epic movie. Like Jeff Goldblum in ID4 uploading the virus. #

Technorati Tags: Fax, Independence Day, The Dark Knight

Twitter Updates for 2009-05-24

John T Davis — Mon, 25 May 2009 02:30:00 +0000

The entire concept of Olive Oyl disturbs me on a deep, unidentifiable level. Part of it may have to do with the fact she lacks human bones. #
One of our toilets is possessed by evil spirits. Of evil. Contemplating calling John Constantine. #

Technorati Tags: bones, constantine, olive oyl, plumbing, popeye

Twitter Updates for 2009-05-14

John T Davis — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Reading the comments about #twitterfail/#fixreplies on TechCrunch, here: http://tr.im/ll2w. Some of the comments are good, too. #
Just got DevonThink Pro Office (my document manager) to talk to my scanner. Bit finicky. It scans in and creates searchable PDFs on the fly. #
And now DevonThink has decided it can’t talk to the scanner again, and has taken the scanner software down with it. Great. #
Fellow law students, be sure to make sure you sign up for Lexis summer access if you need it. #
Must conclude that DevonThink + My Scanner == massively unstable. The software crashes, which hangs the scanner, which means a reset. Grrr. #
Watching _Love Actually_ on #Lifetime. Can’t believe I’m watching Lifetime, and kind of embarrassed to admit it. Great movie, though. #
My scanner fu grows. Why must OCR make things look crappier? Cranked the DPI to 600. Should I be using Grayscale instead of b/w? #

Technorati Tags: devonthink pro office, epson perfection 4490, lifetime, love actually, ocr, pdf, scanner, techcrunch

Twitter Updates for 2009-05-10

John T Davis — Mon, 11 May 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Headed home. Location unknown. Going west. #
Hearing great things about new Star Trek. Can’t wait to see. 3G back. Tyler, Texas signal good but AT&T voice & data abysmal further east. #
Back in Dallas. Gonna veg for a bit then try to clean up my office. It’s currently suffering from exam induced explosion. #
To anyone who’s tried to call/text me, my phone is currently w/o charger and low on battery, so I’ve got it off. Sorry. #

Technorati Tags: at&t, star trek

Twitter Updates for 2009-05-08

John T Davis — Sat, 09 May 2009 02:30:00 +0000

This is it. Glad to be ending it with Civ Pro. The world looks different now. See potential legal actions everywhere, for one. #
After 2 weeks of exams, finally memorized my PIN (for anonymous grading) today. It expires this afternoon. Awesome. #
Star Trek takes in $7M Thursday night http://bit.ly/uPgph (via @TrekMovie) #
All exams completed. 2L now. Awesome. #
I’m digging the Cold Case theme music. Never actually seen the show, but this is nice. #
Hate for WinUpdate burns with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. It asks to download updates then sits there for an hour doing nothing. #
The virus protector updates itself properly. Yay. That’s another thing. Boot to Windows after two weeks and there’s a 100 security fixes. #

Technorati Tags: civil procedure, cold case, star trek, windows update