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starkiller

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7-Nov-2003
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7-Mar-2008
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Post
#197409
Topic
MLB
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/197409/action/topic#197409
Time
Originally posted by: Windexed
The problem for the Indians is that the White Sox are, most likely, going to be even better this year. Anyway I'm a Cub fan (and Bud man) but they are going to royally suck (pun intended) this year.
It should be noted that last year, the Indians lost...I don't recall the exact number...probably between 12 and 16 games by 1 run, and at least half them were to the White Sox.
We were also 1 game behind the Sox before we lost 6 of our last 7 games of the year.
Last, when Travis Hafner ( got hit in the face by Mark Buehrle, that essentially took him out for the year. He eventually came back from the concussion after a month or so, but he was having dizzy spells for the rest of the year.
He still ended up in the top-ten for average, home runs and RBIs, but he could have had a much bigger year.

The Pantyhose (as some people call them here in Cleveland) have improved, no doubt, but the Indians have improved too. Maybe not with the new player's we brought in, but rather through the invaluable experience of going through a playoff-type atmosphere. Don't sell them short, they will perform well (barring big injuries) and I don't think taking the Central Division crown back is out of the realm of possibility.
Post
#197382
Topic
spider man 3
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/197382/action/topic#197382
Time
What I see from that synopsis is what happened with the first round of Batman movies.
Batman- 1 villian: Joker
Batman Returns- 1 villian: Penguin, 1 Enigma: Catwoman (who seemed to be with and against Batman at different times throughout the movie, from what I remember)
Batman Forever- 2 villians: Two-Face and Riddler
Batman and Robin- 3 villians: Dr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Bane (must atmit, I never saw this one, so I don't know how significant Bane was in the plot)

More villians <> better movie
Post
#197379
Topic
MLB
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/197379/action/topic#197379
Time
Don't count on that Warbler. Yankees are getting too old, Giambi is off the steroids and chances are that Sheffield was on them, but is off now. Bernie Williams is practically washed up. Randy Johnson is how old now...
Last, Steinbrenner hasn't got a very strong minor league system to replace the people.

The Indians, on the other hand, have one of the strongest minor-league systems in the game and were the number 1 team in baseball on ESPN's Power Rankings after the World Series. They have since fallen to 5 (because of free agency), but I don't see that sticking for very long.
Post
#196768
Topic
MSN's Best &amp; Worst TV spin offs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/196768/action/topic#196768
Time
I used to watch CSI on SpikeTV, but then they changed their lineup and moved it to a time-slot that makes it very difficult for me to watch.

On another topic, they mentioned Law and Order: Criminal Intent. I like all 3 of the L&O shows. Vincent D'Onofrio's character is very unusual and I find it interesting to...watch the wheels turn as he figures out a case. The only possible complaint I could make about CI, and SVU actually, is that they routinely minimize, or ignore the 'Order' portion of the justice system. The whole point of it being "Law and Order" is that we see not just the police aspects, but the courtroom aspects of a case.
CI almost NEVER sees the inside of a court room.

BTW: Why'd SVU have to get lose Stephanie March?
Post
#196529
Topic
MSN's Best &amp; Worst TV spin offs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/196529/action/topic#196529
Time
1. Millennium was an X-Files spinoff?? I remember Lance Henriksen being in 1 episode of the X-Files, but it was after Millennium had already been on the air.

2. I have to disagree with the "Star Trek: Everything Else". I really enjoy Deep Space Nine and despite everyone else's opinions, I liked Voyager as well (well, that was at least in part to my affinity for the Borg). Enterprise had a handful of good episodes...like the 2 mirror-universe episodes.

3. Diagnosis Murder...how can you diss my man Dick van Dyke?? My 2 favorite episodes were the "Diagnosis Mannix" and "Diagnosis Matlock" episodes. They could have done other cross-over episodes like that.
Post
#196378
Topic
Free Enterprise
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/196378/action/topic#196378
Time
I've always been in favor of free enterprise. Reduced/eliminated taxation means that a company has more money to invest in itself by hiring more workers or buying more equipment, and that helps to strengthen the economy.
...
Those responsible for writing this post, have been sacked. We shall continue in a few moments.
...
Paramount and parent company Viacom must have some marketing scheme up their sleeves if they would give away Enterprise for free. I don't know what, but I imagine it will be have to be good, otherwise they wouldn't risk losing that kind of money.
...
Those responsible for writing this post, as well as those for the last round of sackings, have been sacked. At great expense, we have gone out and found a completely new staff.

I haven't seen Free Enterprise, and I'm not sure I'm interested. Never saw Trekkies or Trekkies 2 either. Thanks to an old Sci-Fi show called 'Exposure' I a number of Star Wars fan films on DVD (George Lucas in Love, the first Tripping the Rift, Chasing Carrie Fisher). It was on in 2000.
Post
#195673
Topic
NBA
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/195673/action/topic#195673
Time
So, how's Diop been doing for you? He could never get more than 5-8 points in a game when the Cavaliers drafted him.

Cavs ARE going to be in the playoffs and if King James can gel with the returning-from-injury Larry Hughes, the East should be worried.
Post
#195671
Topic
Languages
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/195671/action/topic#195671
Time
Originally posted by: ricarleite
Very few people know this, but in the late 40s there was a major movement to make Esperanto the official language around the world. They even had set a date for the change, something like 1960. During this hype, my grandmother started learning it, she can speak it.

In case you don't know, Esperanto is a fabricated language, created in the XIX century to serve as a universal language. It is simple to learn, and a lot of enthusiasts speak it nowadays. There are several books written on it, and even a few films spoken in Esperanto. It's mostly used as a device to meet people, create groups, and stuff like that.
I've heard that before. I cannot remember where, but I know I've heard about the language and the idea of making it universal.
Post
#195561
Topic
Languages
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/195561/action/topic#195561
Time
I speak, read, write, etc. English.

I took 4 years of German between 8th and 11th grades. What remains is a few words, limited conjegation skills, crude sentencing structure and the ability to swear.
(Funny story: One day, I get home from work, and my brother greets me by saying Ich bin ein dumpkopf!
Apparently, during the day, he had asked my mother, who also knows German, how to say Drop dead! and she played a trick on him by, instead, teaching him how to say I am an idiot/moron. We all had fun with that for some time.)

I had 7 weeks of French in 6th grade. What remains, is the ability to count to 5.

Speaking of language, did you guess hear about what French President Jaques Chirac did?
French President Jacques Chirac stormed out of a European Union summit meeting in protest Thursday because he couldn't bear to hear a Frenchman speaking English.

The entire French delegation promptly left the room when business executive Ernest-Antoine Seilliere announced that he would address the summit in English — which he called "the language of business."

Chirac, who has fought to keep the French language internationally relevant, says he was "profoundly shocked" that a Frenchman would use a foreign tongue at the Council table, adding that he "walked out rather than listen to that."
Post
#195430
Topic
Dell to Acquire Alienware
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/195430/action/topic#195430
Time
I use primarily PC, but during high school, I had an online journalism class which had nothing but macs, so I had to use them when I did work for that class.

I had nothing but problems from those macs. I also heard a story from another teeacher about a mac that sickened me.

His granddaughter had a mac and one particular game that she loved to play. The mac was getting old, so it got replaced. The game didn't work with THAT mac. They ended up having to download an emulator for the old mac to run on the new mac. In the end, this game ran slower on the new (faster mac) than it did on the old mac.

I'm sorry, but I'm still playing the 1994 classic Sim City 2000 on my 2006 Alienware PC. No emulators.
Post
#194871
Topic
Isaac Hayes Quits 'South Park'
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/194871/action/topic#194871
Time
Chef's Quitting Controversy
By Roger Friedman

Isaac Hayes did not quit "South Park." My sources say that someone quit it for him.

I can tell you that Hayes is in no position to have quit anything. Contrary to news reports, the great writer, singer and musician suffered a stroke on Jan. 17. At the time it was said that he was hospitalized and suffering from exhaustion.

It’s also absolutely ridiculous to think that Hayes, who loved playing Chef on "South Park," would suddenly turn against the show because they were poking fun at Scientology.

Last November, when the “Trapped in a Closet” episode of the comedy aired, I saw Hayes and spent time with him in Memphis for the annual Blues Ball.

If he hated the show so much, I doubt he would have performed his trademark hit song from the show, “Chocolate Salty Balls.” He tossed the song into the middle of one of his less salacious hits and got the whole audience in the Memphis Pyramid to sing along.

I can tell you, Hayes was very pleased with himself, was in a great mood and, as always, loved his fans' coming up to him and asking him about Chef.

As recently as early January, before his stroke, Hayes defended the "South Park" creators in an interview with “The AV Club,” the serious side of the satirical newspaper, The Onion.

AV Club: They did just do an episode that made fun of your religion, Scientology. Did that bother you?

Hayes: Well, I talked to Matt [Stone] and Trey [Parker] about that. They didn't let me know until it was done. I said, 'Guys, you have it all wrong. We're not like that. I know that's your thing, but get your information correct, because somebody might believe that [expletive], you know?' But I understand what they're doing. I told them to take a couple of Scientology courses and understand what we do. [Laughs.]

The truth is, Hayes has a sly sense of humor and loves everything about "South Park." It’s provided him a much-needed income stream since losing the royalties to the many hits he’s written, such as “Shaft” and “Soul Man,” in the mid-1970s.

Even though he’s one of America’s most prolific hit writers, Hayes has been denied access to profits from his own material for almost 30 years.

But it’s hard to know anything since Hayes, like Katie Holmes, is constantly monitored by a Scientologist representative most of the time. Luckily, at the Blues Ball he was on his own, partying just with family and friends. He was very excited about having gotten married and about the impending birth of a new child.

Friends in Memphis tell me that Hayes did not issue any statements on his own about South Park. They are mystified.

“Isaac’s been concentrating on his recuperation for the last two and a half, three months,” a close friend told me.

Hayes did not suffer paralysis, but the mild stroke may have affected his speech and his memory. He’s been having home therapy since it happened.

That certainly begs the question of who issued the statement that Hayes was quitting "South Park" now because it mocked Scientology four months ago. If it wasn’t Hayes, then who would have done such a thing?

Meantime, Tom Cruise may have gotten Comedy Central to pull its repeat of "South Park"'s Scientology spoof last week, but the result is that episode is all over the Web. You can see it for free at youtube.com.

Not only that, the Comedy Central Web site has four clips from the 21-minute show. And it also says that “Trapped in the Closet” will air this Wednesday at 10 p.m.

So whether or not Cruise actually did use influence at Viacom/Paramount to get the show pulled from last week’s schedule, here it is, bigger and better than ever. Of course, no one would have cared one way or another if “Trapped” simply had aired on schedule.

Of course, no one could blame Cruise, John Travolta or even R&B singer R. Kelly for being upset about the episode. They are poked fun at mercilessly.

In the episode, Stan, one of the "South Park" characters, is solicited into Scientology. He gives them $240 and takes an EMeter test. This convinces the higher-ups that Stan is the reincarnation of the group’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard.

That would be bad enough, wouldn’t it? But Cruise visits Stan in his bedroom and winds up hiding in his closet when Stan tells him he’s not the greatest actor. Thus is born the line “Tom Cruise won’t come out of the closet.”

It’s repeated dozens of times. Travolta soon joins Cruise in Stan’s closet. He won’t come out, either. And when they do, there is the ecstatic announcement that they’ve “come out of the closet.”

You get the picture. But nothing in “Trapped in the Closet” is any worse than anything "South Park" creators Stone and Parker have done before. Just rent “Team America” and see what I mean.
Post
#194867
Topic
A Frightening Possibility
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/194867/action/topic#194867
Time
A computer just runs programs. I can grow and learn, a computer can't. I was born, a computer is manufactured. My intellengence is real, not artificial. I am unque. Borg are not.
Let's see if I can address each of these in turn:

A computer just runs programs.Yes, it performs tasks based on software instructions given to it.
You drive, correct Warbler? You were given instruction in how to use an automobile. You were instructed in how to do your job.
You perform tasks that you were instructed to do just like any computer is. The difference is that you (or any human) can make a mistake. Computers, when left to themselves, do not make a mistake unless there was a mistake in their programming to begin with.
(Old expression: Garbage in, garbage out.)

I can grow and learn, a computer can't.A computer can have its hardware upgraded, which could be comparable to growth.
Learning is more difficult...but computers can, if programmed the right way, learn. You use Office? Perhaps Office XP? Custom menus are, in a way, the computer learning what functions you use most and removing the one's you don't.
Computers can also grow old, requiring replacement parts.

I was born, a computer was manufactured.Well, I can't disagree with you there.

My intelligence is real, not artificial.Well, by any definition I'm aware of, it would be impossible to give a computer "real intelligence". This seems irrelevant.

I am unique. Borg are not.I'm not sure if I can argue that (the Borg part I mean). Part of me wants to say that individual drones of the Borg are unique. They are equipped for different tasks, depending on the needs of the collective.

There is an episode of ST:TNG called The Measure of a ManI've always found it an interesting look into what defines intelligence, humanity, etc.
Post
#194838
Topic
A Frightening Possibility
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/194838/action/topic#194838
Time
To play devil advocate: Credit card can be lost and stolen. Yes, and from personal experience I can tell you is quite easy to get a replacement card.

again To play devil advocate: true, it would be more violent, but much more difficult to do, especially without getting caught. Also there many thieves who have no problem with stealing identies and purses, but would have a problen cutting someone's arm off. I heard a story several months ago about a man in Taiwan or Singapore (Southeast Asia somewhere) who was murdered then had his hand removed so theives could use it to fool a fingerprint analysis system at his work.
Old saying: Desperate times call for desperate measures. To anyone looking for money for a drug fix, it will be desperate times.

If you wish to be assimilated, that is your choice, but it is not mine. True some of these things can help us, but just how far do we go? Until we are more machine than human?
Whoa...I didn't say assimilated. Augmenting one's body with inorganic parts to help it better function is completely different from something like borg assimilation.
First, the idea of a collective mind I do not like one bit. But the idea of improving myself to be better than I am now would be nice.
I want to be a human, not a computer.
I could get really technical and say that by the definition, you are a computer...something that computes.
The brain is a computer...we just haven't figured out everything about how its hardware works, and we know nothing of its software.
Post
#194707
Topic
A Frightening Possibility
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/194707/action/topic#194707
Time
I don't see the need. In today's society, everything has to be done faster, faster, faster. Is pulling a credit card from your wallet, getting it read, then returning it to the wallet REALLY that wasteful timewise??

I would not want such a device, but not because of the big brother aspect. I simply do not see how its any more convenient.

Besides, if you had a chip in your hand/arm...you escalate the violence necessary for identity theft.
In the past, you might get your purse snatched. Now, they have to cut off your hand/arm.

As for Warbler's comment about being 'borgafied'...depending on the application of other cybernetic technologies, I would not be opposed to taking advantage of them. as a couple examples, the idea of artery-cleaning nanotechnology is very much appealing. External muscular augmentation (one of those suits that is mimics to your movements and helps do the work) would be very interesting, and if they could develop sensory implants to increase your visual range (imagine seeing a flower in the ultraviolet spectrum the way a honey bee does) and auditory ability, I might be there. Linking to a computer and controlling it with my mind, that would be very interesting, but I'd definitely make sure it was a non-internet equipped machine.
Post
#194363
Topic
Fear of Flying
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/194363/action/topic#194363
Time
I've only flown a few times in my life. Once in my uncle's small plane (little 4 seater) when I was really little (I barely remember it) and 4 times on actual airlines.

Once we were in the air, I was fine. It was takeoff and landing I was somewhat uncomfortable with.

Its strange, because I have a fairly strong fear of heights. Standing on the 8-9 foot roof of our shop, seeing the ground below, and I can feel it. Once, I had to help my dad put a new antenna on top of our roof (30 feet maybe)...oh, that was pretty bad.
Post
#194256
Topic
A new chip that could end the HD-DVD / Blu-ray battle before it even begins?!?!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/194256/action/topic#194256
Time
Originally posted by: Jay
I don't think the downfall of Beta (which is what I assume you're alluding to) really applies in this case. Beta's superiority--superior image quality--was overshadowed by its shorter recording time, which was far more important to the average user than a few extra lines of resolution.
It should also be pointed out that Sony made the same mistake that Apple did when the IBM and its family of compatibles came around.
Sony refused to licence the technology to other manufacturers, meaning only they would produce BETA machines (I imagine later they did licence it...we used to have a Toshiba BETA deck).
When JVC invented the VHS, they did licence it. More competition drove down prices and let everyone outprice Sony.

How superior is Beta? My dad taped the 50th anniversary of NBC back in the 70s (don't recall the year) hosted by Orson Wells. He recently transferred it to DVD. There was a place here or there where the tape was physically damaged, but beyond that, it played as if NBC had just broadcast it.