Oh boy, got hired for a week, then gotta start working on my thesis. Life certainly hasn't gotten boring with the new decade!
Awesome! Good luck on that security!
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So Wednesday's my "off" night (GothBard is at Shiro's playing a campaign, the kids no longer need my help, so I can actually do MY OWN STUFF! What a concept!), so I spec'ed out my Borderlands 3 siren, and I'll admit, the trees are nowhere near as bad as I thought.
To do the tank/melee/healer build I want, I need 6 points in one tree, 11 points in a second, and 26 points in the third. That actually aligns pretty well with previous versions of Borderlands. They're just not arranged in any logical way, so they SEEM much worse until you sit down and map out the build you want...
EDIT: You get one point per level, and you typically finish the game at level 50, so it's a pretty standard, "You get the final build you want towards the end of the game" shoot-em-up.
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You should see me build videogame characters.
I'm the reason there's an average baseline.
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This will be my 28,001th post as captain yesterday.
That is all.
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Email from Disney+ "Now streaming, the new Aladdin!"
Are, are they trying to get me to cancel my subscription? Because that's how you get people to cancel subscriptions.
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Email from Disney+ "Now streaming, the new Aladdin!"
Are, are they trying to get me to cancel my subscription? Because that's how you get people to cancel subscriptions.
The Empire of the Rodent King uses lots of glare and noise to distract people from the fact that it actually works in subtle and insidious ways...
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Email from Disney+ "Now streaming, the new Aladdin!"
Are, are they trying to get me to cancel my subscription? Because that's how you get people to cancel subscriptions.
What's funny is that I was already extremely frustrated by the Balkanization of streaming television: "Use Netflix for newer shows, Hulu for older shows, Crunchyroll for anime, and Amazon Prime to rent movies." Watching every media company try to start its own channel just has me wanting to hunker down and cancel anything I don't use regularly.
Oh, wait... I already have!
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We just have Disney+ for The Simpsons and nostalgic afternoon cartoons and movies I used to watch at my grandparents house during the summer, Netflix for dramas, The Office, and their original shows, and Hulu, both because we've been using it since it's first day online and for shows like Bob's Burgers, The Awesomes, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and such.
Out of the three, Hulu is definitely the most essential.
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Also, my YouTube page is hella f!#@ed up.
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IT Security, specifically on the role of hackers in such things.Oh boy, got hired for a week, then gotta start working on my thesis. Life certainly hasn't gotten boring with the new decade!WOOOOOOO congrats, Icy!
What are you thesising?
Did you do the CISSP yet?
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Cons of Having Anosmia: I can't smell wet s++& until I'm standing in it.
Pros of Having Anosmia: Nauseating-smelling meds don't bother me.
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Yeah I've been hearing lots of jokes about the streaming services.
Primarily how many there are now = "thx @$$holes, we've rediscovered cable"
:)
My family got Disney plus the day before launch as an early Christmas present.
My wife likes it. My daughter loves it.
I like The Mandalorian.
My daughter is very excited the new Aladdin is coming. Don't worry Captain yesterday, She'll watch it for you. So You don't have to. ;P
I'm just happy to be able to watch a lot of the classics again, without having to dig back out our extensive VHS collection to do so.
(When we got married, my wife worked part time at the Disney store. We have almost ALL of the old VHS they sold and the Lithographs they sold with them.)
IS it sad that I'm actually looking forward to watching "The Great Mouse Detective" again? I didn't think so either.
:)
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I dont get the hate aimed at the new Aladdin movie.
I dont get the hate aimed at the new Aladdin movie.
Because Will Smith is a hell of a long drop off from Robin Williams in his prime.
Because Robin Williams was an absolute tortured genius, and Will Smith is Will Smith.
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Streaming...Yeah...too many options already. I hate it.
Ok, not entirely true.
We've got Netflix, Amazon Prime - but that's more for the free shipping and the streaming service is simply an added perk to us, and we'll have Disney+ shortly. That's it. We had a month of CBS because we wanted to watch Star Trek Discovery.
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Utter b&$+#~+s of a reason. Will Smith didn't try to be Robin Williams, because that is obviously impossible.I dont get the hate aimed at the new Aladdin movie.Because Will Smith is a hell of a long drop off from Robin Williams in his prime.
Maybe that's true, but that's the reason for the widespread dislike. It's simply because Will Smith is not Robin Williams, and Robin Williams is one of the most beloved comics and actors of our time. And at this point I'm going to go way out onto the speculative branch...I don't think I'm wrong but I don't have a ton of evidence either...I think it came out too soon after his death. Robin Williams was as beloved/revered as much as Bowie or Prince. If Will Smith was in a remake of Popeye, I still think it would be reviled, but only because it's Popeye, as opposed to remaking one of Robin Williams' best known and loved comedic roles.
As for my own personal opinion on Will Smith, I find him to be an amazing actor, but seemingly only when he wants to be. Muhammad Ali. The Pursuit of Happyness. The man is extremely talented. When he wants to show that. And at other times he's Will Smith.
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Email from Disney+ "Now streaming, the new Aladdin!"
Are, are they trying to get me to cancel my subscription? Because that's how you get people to cancel subscriptions.
What's funny is that I was already extremely frustrated by the Balkanization of streaming television: "Use Netflix for newer shows, Hulu for older shows, Crunchyroll for anime, and Amazon Prime to rent movies." Watching every media company try to start its own channel just has me wanting to hunker down and cancel anything I don't use regularly.
Oh, wait... I already have!
And then, there is me, who doesn't watch tv series at all. Unless at someone's else place. There might be series I would watch but I don't want to struggle with dealing with all the crap. Also, I have a terrible focus, so "watching/listening" while doing other things is out of question, and I prefer to spend my time doing other things most of the time.
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Fun fact: the house of rodent is working really hard to promote piracy. A lot of SW people around here would pay for watching Mandalorian...
Except...
Disney+ is unavailable in Poland until... April probably. And then corporations have temerity to b@*~@ about piracy.
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I don't watch TV either, unless I'm over at ALL (DE)'s and the kids are having a 'Gumball' marathon.
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Yes
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Mike Resnick died :(
I dont get the hate aimed at the new Aladdin movie.
Because it's Aladdin.
Doesn't matter who they cast it will still be Aladdin.
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Maybe it's a girl thing, but I despised the original Aladdin. Jasmine was pathetic. ("The world is so unfair! I'm going to go pout with my tiger and wait for a prince to rescue me!") Robin Williams was the only redeeming factor.
The new film is a definite improvement.
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Unrelated, I know have the funky ostrich love dance song from True Facts about the Ostrich Mating Dance stuck in my head for the next six months, at least.
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Maybe it's a girl thing, but I despised the original Aladdin. Jasmine was pathetic. ("The world is so unfair! I'm going to go pout with my tiger and wait for a prince to rescue me!") Robin Williams was the only redeeming factor.
The new film is a definite improvement.
I never got that vibe off of her. She complained she'd never gotten to do anything outside the palace...so she promptly leaves the palace to try and do things. She is upset about the marriage situation...and she makes it very clear she is going to fight against this rather than take it lying down. She plays an active role in trying to distract Jafar at the end...which only fails because Aladdin is the least stealthy rogue ever. Idk.
Aside from the trailers being off-putting (I don't really know why), my main beef with the remake is basically that it's a remake. Disney's remakes have...not earned any favor with me. Their new Beauty and the Beast went out of its way to desecrate every aspect of the original. Dumbo was awkward af. They're desperately trying to recapture the feel of the originals and put a lens of postmodern self-awareness over them, but...the originals were sincere fairy tales. The "nudge-wink, we read internet comments and listened! We're hip!" aspect is tonally dissonant unless baked in from inception.
Disney used to be known for its innovation. For its stories, twists though they were on folktales. They've lost that. For every fresh idea they get like Moana, there are three lazy nostalgia cash-ins. Especially since Disney seems to have changed its business model to "we are Borg."
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Also, you use the term Balkanization to indicate a whole now divided into smaller pieces?
Thats... wow... I'm going to have to let that sink in for a bit.
Is that not used outside of the U.S.? It's even got its own Wikipedia entry and everything.
But yeah, at least around here, any time a larger whole breaks into competing, uncooperative pieces, we call it "Balkanization".
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Well...most of America doesn't actually know what the Balkans are, let alone that there is a where component involved. And forget about the origins of how/why. But the term exists.
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'Balkanisation' is a familiar term to me...
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I haven't seen or used 'balkanization' often enough to be comfortable with it.
Due to my lung therapy demands, I'm stuck in front of a tv for 2+ hours a day, so I love all the streaming services. Between netflix, amazon, and now disney plus, I can usually find something halfway entertaining to watch while I therapize.
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Also, you use the term Balkanization to indicate a whole now divided into smaller pieces?
Thats... wow... I'm going to have to let that sink in for a bit.
Is that not used outside of the U.S.? It's even got its own Wikipedia entry and everything.
But yeah, at least around here, any time a larger whole breaks into competing, uncooperative pieces, we call it "Balkanization".
It is used here, occasionally.
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I dont get the hate aimed at the new Aladdin movie.Because it's Aladdin.
Doesn't matter who they cast it will still be Aladdin.
As I said prior, you gotta like what you gotta like.
Or, you know, NOT in this case. ;)Aladdin will always be special to me, (and my wife) because going to that movie in theaters was our first ever date. (She blushed when we accidentally put our hands in the popcorn bucket at the same time. She's adorable)
And then we got married the same year that Aladdin and Jasmine did, and spent our honeymoon in Disneyworld, and of course took pics with Aladdin & Jasmine. ;P
Yep, been, what, 25 years now? She doesn't blush (as much) anymore, (I've been a BAD influence) But she still loves Aladdin. And it has nothing to do with Robin Williams. ;)
My family got Disney plus the day before launch as an early Christmas present.
My wife likes it. My daughter loves it.
I like The Mandalorian.
The Mandalorian is fantastic.
My daughter is very excited the new Aladdin is coming. Don't worry Captain yesterday, She'll watch it for you. So You don't have to. ;P
I love it, too!
I'm just happy to be able to watch a lot of the classics again, without having to dig back out our extensive VHS collection to do so.
(When we got married, my wife worked part time at the Disney store. We have almost ALL of the old VHS they sold and the Lithographs they sold with them.)
Our old VHS tapes are slowly degrading. We tried to watch The Little Mermaid with our kids and at places ours somehow turned almost black-and-white (faint color still there) with static-like artifacts on them. Alas! Things age!
IS it sad that I'm actually looking forward to watching "The Great Mouse Detective" again? I didn't think so either.
:)
It most certainly is not!
... but I'm salty that The Black Cauldron didn't show up when I tried to search for it.
I dont get the hate aimed at the new Aladdin movie.
Nor I!
I think people have a bit of an issue with Jasmine's ballad for some reason (I think it's good; I can see why some might feel it's corny or does "little" since it's more-or-less a fantasy-trip, but it leads up to her actually doing things), and Robin Williams is so beloved that his lack can be keenly felt. A few other things have received criticism, some of which is valid, but over-all I think it compares favorably to an extent with the original.
Utter b@*#$~%s of a reason. Will Smith didn't try to be Robin Williams, because that is obviously impossible.I dont get the hate aimed at the new Aladdin movie.Because Will Smith is a hell of a long drop off from Robin Williams in his prime.
Absolutely correct. Smith did a fantastic job as his version and didn't even try to be Williams - and it was a great call, too.
(Also, have you heard the mashups of the two of them? Delightful.)
Fun fact: the house of rodent is working really hard to promote piracy. A lot of SW people around here would pay for watching Mandalorian...
Except...
Disney+ is unavailable in Poland until... April probably. And then corporations have temerity to b#+*~ about piracy.
We literally only have access to D+ because my brother-in-law and his wife are like, "Yeah, you have kids; here's how to use the system."
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I walked by a senior talking to a sophomore about English. "I learned more in [Scint's] class, but [sophomore teacher] gave us more work."
I'm...not sure how to feel about that. I think it's good?
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I walked by a senior talking to a sophomore about English. "I learned more in [Scint's] class, but [sophomore teacher] gave us more work."
I'm...not sure how to feel about that. I think it's good?
It's not good. It's awesome.
Work for work's sake serves no one.
Maybe it's a girl thing, but I despised the original Aladdin. Jasmine was pathetic. ("The world is so unfair! I'm going to go pout with my tiger and wait for a prince to rescue me!") Robin Williams was the only redeeming factor.
The new film is a definite improvement.
I always thought that the original Jasmine was a frustrating character, though I feel I should fight back against her characterization, here: technically, she not only didn't want to wait on a prince to save her (), she actively resisted it in the most non-homicidal ways I could find. She rejected all of her suitors (though, to be fair, most of them seemed like jerks) and worked on using her authority to make things better, however she could.
She rejected Jafar's magic-granted authority, she refused and struggled against his magic power as much as possible, and only fell into "women tropes" explicitly to manipulate the fools who couldn't see her as anything else ("Prince Ali" briefly included prior to the AWNW song; in his defense, he was suuuuuuuuper-seduced by her and tricked into saying something dumb, but in her defense she was pretty tired of "princes" by that point).
That said, she was exceptionally spoiled and her line of rebuke against Ali was... over-the-top. She isn't some prize to be won, but he wasn't talking about winning her from the Sultan, he was talking about winning her heart. By that point, she'd seen enough crap to just dismiss them all, but it was rather unfair, and while she unfairly lumped everyone together, it was somewhat understandable.
... but, yeah, the new version is pretty rockin' and I love what they did with her (though putting her ambition in plain terms, like, "I want to be Sultan(a)," sounds weird; in-context, however, it's reasonable and quite a good thing). Over-all, I love the new film, and the music is excellent.
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This morning summarizes my issue with most of my co-workers quite well.
Manager: Here's a spreadsheet of new features. Please edit the spreadsheet by highlighting features you are covering in red.
NobodysHome: I have a bit of concern about the term "covering", since there's, "Mentioning in passing and providing a doc reference," and then there's, "Going into detail and showing students how to do it," so how are we defining "covering"?
Rest of the Team: .
Gee, team. Step #1: Read the directions and follow them.
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The Mandalorian IS fantastic.
(And NOT just the 'Baby Yoda' scenes. Although they are the best.) ;)
FINALLY figured out where I knew the main actor from.
He played 'Agent Whiskey' in the 'The Kingsman: Golden Circle'
(And a lot of other things it seems, but that's where I knew him from) ;P
Judging by the number of guest appearances in this (so far very short) series, I get the impression that it might be the new "Batman '66", as far as actors doing guest spots on it. ;)
I'm OK with that,...
I never got that vibe off of her. She complained she'd never gotten to do anything outside the palace...so she promptly leaves the palace to try and do things. She is upset about the marriage situation...and she makes it very clear she is going to fight against this rather than take it lying down. She plays an active role in trying to distract Jafar at the end...which only fails because Aladdin is the least stealthy rogue ever. Idk.
And ninja'd by the lit nerd teacher!
Aside from the trailers being off-putting (I don't really know why),
Holy crap they were! They were super-awful! I was almost in mourning for the thing before it released!
my main beef with the remake is basically that it's a remake. Disney's remakes have...not earned any favor with me. Their new Beauty and the Beast went out of its way to desecrate every aspect of the original. Dumbo was awkward af.
I think BatB was okay; some parts were amazing, but it plodded. They added unnecessary drama to it, and they tried incorporating elements of the original fairy tale while adding some original elements to it and harkening back to the older film... and it was okay. I certainly don't think it desecrated much, though several elements were unnecessary and I don't think all the CGI moments were really great.
Now, if you want to talk about intentionally desecrating the original: Malefecent did exactly that with Sleeping Beauty. It was, as well, a pretty decent film, though not exceptional; but in that film literally everything was intentionally tainted and altered to twist the story on its head, and I feel it reflected poorly on all the remakes as a result.
Cinderella was actually not bad. It wasn't as powerful or arresting as some versions, and Cinder herself was a little... uh... blase about being locked in a tower forever for reasons that are beyond me... but until that part it was decently enjoyable.
I've not seen Dumbo. Everything - everything - I've seen about it puts me off for reasons I can't quite put my finger on.
Regardless, I have no real problem with remakes - I think it's fine. I don't think it's original, but that's hardly new for Disney. None of their iconic properties really is, just their takes on them (sort of). They have been mostly "okay" from my watchings, with several cringe-worthy moments that, I think, stand out more than is waranted.
They're desperately trying to recapture the feel of the originals and put a lens of postmodern self-awareness over them, but...the originals were sincere fairy tales. The "nudge-wink, we read internet comments and listened! We're hip!" aspect is tonally dissonant unless baked in from inception.
This, I think, is extremely valid, and I feel that Disney has certainly taken this a little-too-much to heart ever since the movie Enchanted (which was a delightful film, though the villain dialogue toward the end was a little too "on-the-nose" and repetitive). You've seen in in such blockbusters as Frozen, as well as most of their remakes.
I think one of the problems with addressing the criticism is when they don't logic out the consequences of addressing that criticism down-the-line: they stop at the specific criticism, rather than examining and thinking through beyond that. This is where the dissonance creeps in and the feeling of empty gestures crops up, I think.
Also, I think I use the words, "I think" too much, I think. But I don't know. I think.
Disney used to be known for its innovation. For its stories, twists though they were on folktales. They've lost that. For every fresh idea they get like Moana, there are three lazy nostalgia cash-ins. Especially since Disney seems to have changed its business model to "we are Borg."
Heh.
(Moana was beautiful and I love it.)
I walked by a senior talking to a sophomore about English. "I learned more in [Scint's] class, but [sophomore teacher] gave us more work."
I'm...not sure how to feel about that. I think it's good?
It's good. As NH said, work for its own sake is nonsense. Work that teaches things is the goal.
Work - even unpleasant work - is necessary to learn things: internet videos are great, and all, but without working a lesson is often soon forgotten; but actually knowing a subject and the ability to recall it later is the real goal, and excess work may be linked to a lessening of retention.
That said, spaced repetition is key. Hearing something once and doing it is fine; doing so a week later is good; putting it a month after that helps a lot; and so on.
... at least according to a random internet video...
>.>
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The Mandalorian IS fantastic.
(And NOT just the 'Baby Yoda' scenes. Although they are the best.) ;)FINALLY figured out where I knew the main actor from.
He played 'Agent Whiskey' in the 'The Kingsman: Golden Circle'
(And a lot of other things it seems, but that's where I knew him from) ;PJudging by the number of guest appearances in this (so far very short) series, I get the impression that it might be the new "Batman '66", as far as actors doing guest spots on it. ;)
I'm OK with that,...
I know Pedro best from Narcos.
The Mandalorian IS fantastic.
(And NOT just the 'Baby Yoda' scenes. Although they are the best.) ;)FINALLY figured out where I knew the main actor from.
He played 'Agent Whiskey' in the 'The Kingsman: Golden Circle'
(And a lot of other things it seems, but that's where I knew him from) ;PJudging by the number of guest appearances in this (so far very short) series, I get the impression that it might be the new "Batman '66", as far as actors doing guest spots on it. ;)
I'm OK with that,...
I think keeping BY a secret was marketing gold. I don't particularly care about spoilers, in general, but the more you're exposed to something like that, the easier it is to get jaded by it, and by introducing it as this hard-core lone gunman style tough-guy series, but then sucker-punching all the would-be fans with not only a Yoda-alike, but a baby Yoda-alike, you manage to slip past pretty much everyone's defenses (especially the "I'm too manly" sorts that would typically object to something like this).
Frankly, it was an act of genius. Now, of course, it will hit market oversaturation to high heaven and beyond: being the most-watched show period during it's initial run means that it's inevitable; but it was a brilliant ploy.
Kind of sad that the lady from Tattoine wasn't brought back for the finale, but IG-88 was simply exquisite. I'm surprised the Ugnott diiiiiiiiiiiiied! Ack!
The guest actors have been a treat, and I love how most every episode has been it's own genre, while still being a space-western and a space-opera at the same time.
The way it manages to make "small"-scale threats seem like legitimately big deals (because they are big deals) is fantastic, and actually enhances the power and impressiveness of the movies themselves - which is kind of a hard feat to imagine accomplishing, much less doing so in such a well-written way!
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I walked by a senior talking to a sophomore about English. "I learned more in [Scint's] class, but [sophomore teacher] gave us more work."
I'm...not sure how to feel about that. I think it's good?
My Dad was a teacher for nearly forty years, and his philosophy was "whatever method gets the kids to learn the material, use it." He was very lax in classroom discipline unless it got out of hand. Normally, that doesn't lead to respect, but my Dad was so easy going, the kids liked him anyway. (I got this from talking with students of his I met in High School).
They learned from him as well, so he became a favorite teacher for most of the kids he taught. He once had an argument with another teacher about allowing kids who missed a test due to illness taking the exact same test a few days later. She stated that the students could talk to their friends and therefore learn all the answers.
His response: "Exactly."
More work means nothing. Are they learning from you should be the only consideration...and it sounds like you're doing that part great! :D
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The guest actors have been a treat, and I love how most every episode has been it's own genre, while still being a space-western and a space-opera at the same time.
The way it manages to make "small"-scale threats seem like legitimately big deals (because they are big deals) is fantastic, and actually enhances the power and impressiveness of the movies themselves - which is kind of a hard feat to imagine accomplishing, much less doing so in such a well-written way!
Yep. Exactly.
(What? Yes i KNOW I'm normally over-verbose. I never use a sentence when a paragraph will do. But Tacticslion summed it up perfectly.) :)
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I dont get the hate aimed at the new Aladdin movie.Because it's Aladdin.
Doesn't matter who they cast it will still be Aladdin.
As I said prior, you gotta like what you gotta like.
Or, you know, NOT in this case. ;)Aladdin will always be special to me, (and my wife) because going to that movie in theaters was our first ever date. (She blushed when we accidentally put our hands in the popcorn bucket at the same time. She's adorable)
And then we got married the same year that Aladdin and Jasmine did, and spent our honeymoon in Disneyworld, and of course took pics with Aladdin & Jasmine. ;PYep, been, what, 25 years now? She doesn't blush (as much) anymore, (I've been a BAD influence) But she still loves Aladdin. And it has nothing to do with Robin Williams. ;)
I was an avowed Disney hater until GothBard insisted that we go see the latest Disney movie: A trivial little thing called The Little Mermaid.
A few years later, I was proud to complete my collection of ALL of Disney's animated films when I got an imported Japanese laserdisc of Song of the South.
(And yes, there is nothing quite so hilarious as the poor Japanese actor trying to voice Uncle Remus as low as he can possibly go, then have Uncle Remus break into song (they used the original audio, not Japanese translations) and think, "Wow, is James Baskett only one octave lower than his Japanese dub, or is it two?")
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A few years later, I was proud to complete my collection of ALL of Disney's animated films when I got an imported Japanese laserdisc of Song of the South.(And yes, there is nothing quite so hilarious as the poor Japanese actor trying to voice Uncle Remus as low as he can possibly go, then have Uncle Remus break into song (they used the original audio, not Japanese translations) and think, "Wow, is James Baskett only one octave lower than his Japanese dub, or is it two?")
<Ignoring the obviously dated and historical/racial issues around Song of the South.>
It's been a long time since I heard James Baskett singing in that, and I've never heard the Japanese dub, but I wouldn't be shocked at all if it's 2 octaves.