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| Technical Note
--
Primis
4-23-03,
11:35PM |
| As I try to post this last update, I can't help but notice
my webhost is not responding. They're not totally down (amazing how
their own commercial site is unaffected), but they appear to be either a)
going through a Denial of Service attack, or b) something is screwed up on
their pipe and they are getting NO bandwidth right now.
The nice thing about manually updating this site is that I don't have to
do it online, I can save it offline and upload it whenever. Something
you can't do with site scripts.
So sorry to everyone who's had trouble accessing the site all day, I really
am trying to update on a regular basis (so long as there's content). It
wasn't planned. I'll be looking into it since it's lasted for quite
some time at this point...
In other news, I removed both the counter at the bottom of the page and the
Poll for the time being at least. Neither was working right anymore
and was just taking up space, which displeases me. I have something
else in store for the site right now that may make amends for losing the
Poll though, if I can only get my mad skillz to work for me... I'll be tweaking
things on the site her until I can hopefully drop the bombshell on what I
have planned for the site. |
| Who Let Him Have a Blog
Anyhow? --
Primis
4-23-03,
11:35PM |
| Longtime friend of the site, SychoSyd, has a rather amusing
blog up here that collects
some of the best news you've never heard about. Most of the news involves
people with very unfortunate names, very bad puns, cows catching fire, or
old ladies who own handguns and enjoy using them.
Or as the site states: "News you won't find on the front page. Commentary
you won't find in the editorial section. And other stuff."
So go read Below the Fold,
and become ed-ju-ma-cated. And yell and scream at him if he goes too
long without updating. |
| USA's "Helen of Troy": A
Review --
Primis
4-21-03,
9:30PM |
| Where to begin, where to begin...
The first of the two-part series was rather rough to watch. Not so
much for inaccuracy, but because not a lot was going on. Everything
was setting up the second part obviously. Then again, the Illiad
is rather boring in parts to while setting up the story, so I can forgive
them.
They ignored how Cassandra got her visions, as well as the even-more-crucial
reason why nobody BELIEVES her visions. They ignored the fact that
Paris was allegedly raised in the hills by a nymph. But otherwise not
so bad. In fact, they got bonus points in my book for the sacrifice
Agamemnon has to make to get favorable winds to sail to Troy.
Tonight, part two though, was absolutely polar.
The spectacle of the invasion of Troy by sea was... well... impressive.
Hundreds of ships of the Aegean Fleet. Thousand and thousands
of men on both sides. Arrows raining down by the scores. A very
impressive first hour to the second part
However, they really, really, REALLY screwed up the order beyond the initial
invasion and attack. The series of duels and clashes that followed
were just wrong and did not belong. So the last portion basically sucked
to high heaven. Even how they handled the infamous Horse... the only
thing they really did right was the actual horror and violence of the sacking
of Troy. The aftermath is bloody and costly.
Final thoughts: They did Cassandra correctly -- as a woman who is at
first irritated noone believes her and slowly grows mad and insane. I
thinked I liked how she was done best of all. Hector and Paris are
believable are done correctly IMHO -- both jealous of one another and yet
loyal at the same time. Menelaeus was perhaps dealt with too kindly,
and Agamemnon too harshly. IIRC neither of them was Good Cop, Bad Cop...
they were both Spartan Kings after all.
They absolutely butchered Achilles, one of the most colorful people of the
war. They turned him into a stupid, cocky, and overall hateful character.
What a waste. We only get a glimpse of how fascinating Odysseus
is as a human being. And finally we have Helen. For being the
focal point of the story, they sure seemed to completely miss building much
of anyting for her as a character. They basically leave her in constant
flux, and don't give the viewer much reason to care about her.
If you get a chance to watch it for free and have an interest in Greek antiquity,
it's not too bad to watch really, especially with some lowered expectations.
I'm picky because I've studied a lot of it simply for fun. But
for the love of all that is holy, please don't pay to see this... it will
only encourage them to screw up more stories. |
| No Joke -- WHA (World Hockey Association)
To Try a Comeback
--
Primis
4-15-03,
10:25PM |
| Props to 'acebailey' from the www.hockeytraderumors.com
for the heads up on this.
In anticipation of an NHL work stoppage (lockout, strike, whatever) for the
2004-05 season there are plans in the works to
resurrect the old WHA
to fill the void and possibly "capitalize where the NHL has failed".
This isn't a joke -- they are already
contemplating
possible franchise sites and supposedly have already
secured some
former ACHL teams to take part in the WHA2 (a nod to Arena Football's
afl2), as a feeder /minor league for the parent WHA. Possible WHA sites
include Halifax, NS, Birmingham, AL, Quebec City, QC, and Hartford, CT.
There currently are no plans for Wnnipeg, MAN, it appears... I
can only feel relief that none of the potential sites as of right now are
located in MI.
I shudder to think of the possible level of play for this league. They're
basing their player pool hopes on the merger between the ECHL and WCHL (hockey's
equivalent of AA) and that a lot of players will be floating around trying
to find work. These aren't exactly good players, as most players with
any NHL hopes are all either in US Collegiate hockey, Canadian Junior Hockey,
overseas professionally, or already in the AHL or ECHL (which have
well-established ties with the NHL already).
Even more amusing is the intention they have of
expanding to Europe
in 2005. Just think about the league alignment and travel implications
for that, for a second...
I don't even know what else to say. Given the current problems other
well-established pro hockey teams are having in larger markets, this seems
like the mother of all Bad Ideas... |
| Shayne Corson Quits
Leafs. --
Primis
4-15-03,
10:05PM |
| After seeing some rumors on the web hockey forums all
day, ESPN.com is finally reporting that
Toronto
Maple Leafs left winger Shayne Corson has resigned from the team.
That's right, he hasn't retired. He simply has quit the team. Yeah
that'll do wonders for how people view your career. To borrow a line
from Bill Simmons, I don't even have a joke here... |
| "Not so funny now, is
it?" --
Primis
4-15-03,
9:05PM |
| The Detroit Free Press
has a great
article up about how one of the primary culprits for bringing spam to
your inbox is finding out that paybacks are a... well... you know...
It seems that after boasting in an article how profitable spam was for him,
a bunch of people started signing him up for physical junkmail lists everywhere
in retaliation (if you're a spam magnate, why on earth would you ever give
your full name... EVER?). And of course, he's furious about it and
complaining:
"They've signed me up for every advertising campaign and mailing list
there is," he told me. "These people are out of their minds. They're harassing
me."
He's reportedly attempting to sue the people behind it but I wonder if he
can do so without legally damaging his own business. Wouldn't it be
funny say, if he successfully sued, thus setting a legal precedent by which
he himself becomes sued and shut down?... |
| USA Miniseries: Helen of
Troy --
Primis
4-11-03,
10:44PM |
| Weird. I've been reading Adele Geras' "Troy", a
novelization about the Trojan War from the Trojan perspective (good read
so far too, despite initial misgivings), and after stumbling across a site
at random I see that
USA will be airing
a two-part series entitled "Helen of Troy" on April 20th and 21st,
8pm Eastern/Pacific.
The adaptation is supposed to be based off Homer's "Illiad", which
is really stupid to say since THERE ISN'T ANY OTHER POSSIBLE SOURCE ANYWAYS.
We'll see. IIRC USA is also the network that brought us "Mists
of Avalon" so... there's precedent here for them to shamelessly
put utter and complete crap on the air. However, reviews of the miniseries
all seem to be quite positive so far, even moreso than they were for "Atilla"
(which I eventually was scared off from seeing).
In looking through some of the cast listings though two names stick out --
John Rhys-Davies as Priam (dude'll do just about anything for work
now it seems?), and Joe Montana as Achilles. Yes, you read that
right, it says that Achilles is being played by a Joe Montana.
The Joe Montana? One would assume not but... never can
tell...
I'm torn. I can't help but think this has potential to be a horrible,
horrible travesty. On the other hand though, if done right this could
be veerrrrryyyy cool, and on a topic oft-overlooked by Hollywood. It
can't be any worse than that Greek minseries NBC did a few years back, either.
We'll see... |
| Why the West Coast Always Screws Sports
Up. --
Primis
4-8-03,
12:35AM |
| Sports is a great unifier. People of different
races, creeds, ages, backgrounds, careers... they can all get together and
root for something common.
Well nuts to that. We need to face the fact that people on the west coast
absolutely ruin sports for everyone else in the country. Why?
Because they whine, and whine, and whine until schedule-makers create
schedules with THEM in mind, while the other 80% of the population of the
North America that ISN'T on Pacific Time gets the shaft.
The NCAA Men's Championship game didn't start until basically 9:30pm Eastern
tonight. So I didn't watch it. And I know many other NCAA hoops
fans who chose to not watch it either. Why? Because a 9:30pm
Eastern start time is unacceptable when the two teams playing are Kansas
and Syracuse -- both in either Central or Eastern time-zones. How much
of a disservice is that to those fans?
Now I know what you're thinking, this is harsh right? This is overreacting
to a minor problem. Well guess what it's NOT a minor problem and something
needs to be done with it *now* if we want sports in this country to continue.
Read More... |
| Why Dogs and Elk Carcasses Don't
Mix --
Primis
4-06-03,
1:35AM |
| This was a thread I was pointed to me years ago and was
recently brought back up on IRC. This is a lot of reading, but is well
worth it. When I first read it I laughed myself out of my chair...
http://www.jerrypournelle.com/reports/jerryp/dogsinelk.html
This isn't the original, the original was on the rec.pets newsgroup (does
anyone know what newsgroups are anymore, yeesh?)... enjoy... |
| Safe For Now
--
Primis
4-05-03,
9:25PM |
| Oh yeah, the domain and hosting have both been renewed.
With that committment, the site's not going anywhere for a while. In
case anyone cares.... |
| Linux Gets Not-so-Glowing
Review --
Primis
4-05-03,
8:50AM |
| There's an article up on LinuxWorld right now about the
trials and tribulations of a
Windows user trying
to switch to Linux. The author is someone who has been stuck with
Windows 95 for too long, and in fact tried a buncha' different flavors of
Linux.
To sum it all up, the author was not impressed. Of course, Linux zealots
have come out of the woodwork to berate the author as a
clueless
idiot lacking basic computer knowledge. Of course, the reality
is that the author is in fact an above-average user looking for somerthing
non-Microsoft, *exactly* the type of person open-source people have been
clamoring to convert. And when that person expresses displeasure at
the problems with the different variants of Linux, they are immediately attacked
and crucified.
Ladies and gentlemen.... Example #1 why Linux will never ever be taken seriously
by the general public -- Linux Users.
I hope you Linux Zealots enjoy Microsoft, because you're actually the ones
keeping them in business... |
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