As Mel Gibson’s latest movie is just about to premiere worldwide I thought I would share some opinions on this project.
First off, I’d like to say that this is a movie that I will see, even if I’ll probably leech it instead of actually go and pay for it. Second of all I am still and will always be an atheist. Even if I do realize that it would be more balanced to stick with agnosticism, i.e. more “scientific”. But I’ve already had that discussion and I’m tired of it. Sometimes you just have to take a stance.
Basically I think it’s a bit paradoxical that Mel Gibson is himself a Christian. And one that takes his beliefs very seriously it seems. For example, as I recall reading in a recent interview, he is still of the opinion that any nonbelievers are destined for eternal damnation in the fires of hell. Cute.
And even if I cannot prove anything, it seems he has become even more zealous over the course of this movie. It seems to have made him accentuate his faith and become more devout in the process.
Yet, he is exploiting those same beliefs in making a movie about the mythical events that led to the creation of the religion he adheres to. Events that he really knows nothing about. And even if he was the world’s greatest theologist he couldn’t attempt to tell anything but the official version since he is after all biased.
Then again I guess most people in the movies business take on projects that interest them. So in that aspect Mel Gibson isn’t special. It’s just that religion is a tad more complex and smothering than say an actor like Arnold Schwarzenegger that keeps doing action movies. I’d say that the former represents more of a deep personal conviction. One that could be considered to influence daily life and work.
Once more, we can ask ourselves what we can learn from history and how we interpret events long past and shrouded in the veils of time. What do we really know about the origins of this religion?
Every few centuries the bible is reinterpreted and traditions are changed. And if change can happen even in the midst of religious dogma who knows what the founders really did intend for. It’s almost like detonating a nuclear bomb and then try to go back and put all the molecules in place exactly as they once were.
So what the hell. I love historical fiction. You just have to realize the limitations and the fairytale proportions and take it for what it is. A brutal depiction of human life. Not so unlike the present day. That could also be the moral of the story. And possibly the only beneficial thing to come out of religion in general. I.e. fables. But going beyond that is like making a religion out of the instruction manual for the VCR. “Thou shalt not place wet objects on top of the assembly”.
Filed under Uncategorized by Björn Hallberg 6 years ago | 476 views
University of Skövde Web Site. I hate to say “I told you so” .. but .. I told you so.
Two years of work and God knows how many thousands of monetary units result in this pile of utter rectal vomit. And even if the framework is sound (albeit minimal), it shows that their handiwork is shaky. Whoever is in charge of image processing for example couldn’t design a square box even if it started a small pop duo and released the top hit single ’square boxes are here again’.
I don’t doubt that their is some sort of technical competence behind the site, the problem is just that this is an art. It’s just not something you can tackle using textbook knowledge alone. It takes years to cognitively process all the information that will make you even a hack visual designer. So it is in fact something that you can learn, but it is one of those things that will have to become an entire lifestyle. Anything is possible, but turning your average bum into da Vinci with a crash course and a new employment contract is just idiotic.
My best guess is that they have a couple of blowhard types that have talked and schemed their way to get to handle this project. Universities are like old and corrupt organizations that way. Under normal conditions they would perish but since they are in their own sandbox they do not. They themselves make up the rules so that they can prosper and carry on their disgusting backscratching. I kinda expected more. Sorry, but you people just don’t measure up to my high standards.
My patience is wearing thin with these incompetent clowns. It wouldn’t be so bad if they at least could realize their shortcomings. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, enrages my more than people who are smug about having done a poor job. It goes against everything that I am. Modesty is the greatest virtue of all.
Filed under Uncategorized by Björn Hallberg 6 years ago | 672 views
Via Warp2Search: K-lite Codec Pack 2.24 FULL Final, K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 1.00 FULL Final
The K-Lite Mega Codec Pack is something fairly new to me. Apparently it’s nothing more than the K-Lite Codec Pack Full, QuickTime Alternative, Real Alternative, Bink and Smacker playback support and Monkey’s Audio DirectShow decoder.
One of the most noticeable changes is that BSplayer is finally going out the window in favor of Media Player Classic. The Mega Pack still contains both however.
There is no doubt that K-lite is the best and most dedicated codec pack available today. It’s reliable and it covers pretty much every codec ever created.
Filed under Uncategorized by Björn Hallberg 6 years ago | 1,319 views
At least if you read Wired News today. Together with the US missile shield and the Chinese anti-satellite warfare program this marks four costly and utterly pointless endeavors.
Russia Tests New Wonder Weapon
Russia has successfully tested a hypersonic anti-Star Wars weapon capable of penetrating any prospective missile shield, a senior general said Thursday.
Pentagon Preps for War in Space
An Air Force report is giving what analysts call the most detailed picture since the end of the Cold War of the Pentagon’s efforts to turn outer space into a battlefield.
For years, the American military has spoken in hints and whispers, if at all, about its plans to develop weapons in space. But the U.S. Air Force Transformation Flight Plan changes all that. Released in November, the report makes U.S. dominance of the heavens a top Pentagon priority in the new century. And it runs through dozens of research programs designed to ensure that America can never be challenged in orbit — from anti-satellite lasers to weapons that “would provide the capability to strike ground targets anywhere in the world from space.”
I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry, but there is also a clear line between developing defence systems like the missile shield in your own back yard and hanging up satellite based weaponry that can be perceived as a threat to other players. Five years ago I wouldn’t have looked twice at the plans, but after the recent insight into the heart of US foreign policy I am more vigilant.
The war in Iraq and The Project for the New American Century are just two of the most recent events to show that the US has learned nothing from its own past. The trail of blood runs all the way back to the very day that nation was founded. A young and upstart country with a nickelodeon history, Mickey Mouse diplomacy and a fast food concept of time and honour. Isolationistic when it suits them and otherwise warmongering or more generally cloak-and-dagger but never playing with an open hand. It’s especially ironic considering the deep Christian values that have been forged with the nation building. Or maybe it is JUST BECAUSE of that. Hypocrisy is generally the hallmark of Judeo-Christian-Islamic delusions.
But the really, really ironic thing here is that the more the US extends its influence over the globe, the more they open themselves up and get bumped back. Maybe not so using fancy orbital weapons platforms but thru trade and social influence. As long as they don’t go completely psycho fascist they are still very much open. Even if they don’t realize this and neither do we. As an example I can refer to the idea that foreign benefactors might be allowed to contribute funds to support presidential candidates. As if that hasn’t already happened … just think about how many companies are in fact transnational these days and how easy it is for a skilled individual to move and launder money. Globalization is one of those things you never see coming.
Filed under Americas by Björn Hallberg 6 years ago | 577 views
Windows FD: A semi-preconfigured version of Windows XP Pro Corp that has taken the BitTorrent community by storm. And unlike some other lame ass attempts I found it to be quite useful and as such it now replaces the old SP1 slipstream that I’ve been using for ages.
What you get:
- Windows XP Pro corporate with SP1.
- Microsoft Office Professional 2003.
- WinRAR 3.3 .
- All hotfixes up until 25/12/03.
- Certain reg fixes, a new visual theme and wallpaper.
- Key is stored on disc, making the install fully unattended.
- Booted even on a system that threw up on the old Corp disc.
It’s ironic really because as illegal as this is (even if you have a valid license), it creates the most reliable, easy to set up and smooth version of XP yet. Even if you’re a poweruser there is no denying there is time to save here. Especially if you do many fresh installs every year. Because of Windows being closed source, it does tend to get a little “stale” between updates. I figure Microsoft better start shipping something like this themselves soon. Thank god for these initiatives. Also available as a hilarious “Deluxe” version. But in that case I’d suggest adding your own tools as those included in that pack were rather dull. Who needs the entire Adobe Creative Suit for instance?
Btw. Used the FD install for the revived HTPC. Strangely enough everything worked. Network file sharing. Radmin. Internet thru the bridge and router. The works. I must check what kind of settings were activated because quite frankly I’m baffled.
On a side note, the HTPC has been offline for over 6 months. All batteries were dead of course. Crap. And the new case showed a fatal flaw in that the PSU inadvertently blows air onto the CPU. I might have to get Dremel-happy here. I really wish I had the proper tools to cut and drill metal … but more on that later …
Filed under Uncategorized by Björn Hallberg 6 years ago | 1,147 views
Annoyances.org: How many forum members does it take to change a light bulb?
… 13 to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add “Me too”.
1 forum lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now and start it all over again …
They have a very well rounded off humor section actually.
Filed under Uncategorized by Björn Hallberg 6 years ago | 644 views
While on the subject I noticed that Empornium.us is facing shutdown. Apparently someone has been running the site off their employer’s office connection and now he is gonna find a new job so bye bye freeloading. I wonder what kind of employer lets you run something as bandwidth intensive as Empornium on their servers …
Anyway, unless someone steps in and funds this operation I’d say it’s goodbye Empornium. And that would really be a shame. And for more reasons than you might think. There is a huge difference between porn itself and the industry that produces it. If someone takes a huge chunk out of their profit and gives people what they want I’d say it’s good for everyone.
Anyway, they have resorted to a petition to pledge monetary donations. Hope imaginary funds work for them.
Unfortunately I no longer hold an account with this site. I got booted for inactivity and a slightly tarnished ratio.
Filed under Copywrong by Björn Hallberg 6 years ago | 692 views
Suprnova has been up and running for exactly one year today. Can’t say I was there from the start, but I have been checking the site three – four times a day for the last 10 months or so. It’s probably the site I visit most often. It’s hysterical when you think about it. According to the site admin they currently get 420,000+ visitors a day. That has got to put them on some sort of top list over most visited web sites, right?
Filed under Uncategorized by Björn Hallberg 6 years ago | 630 views
RADIO.BLOG
Nice concept that I haven’t seen before. Could be something to consider for the future. Even if it of course presents a big copyright hole that could shut the site down just like that (even if I suppose it could fall under so called “personal broadcasters”). And the bandwidth usage must be staggering. Can’t tell what kind of figures we’re talking about here. I’m unfamiliar with the “swf sound format”. Seems to be just a container around the actual mp3? And also for some reason it doesn’t support VBR. Some people seem to use it for “soundnails” to preview music. Could be another nifty thing to do.
Anyway, I’ll keep it in mind.
Filed under Software by Björn Hallberg 6 years ago | 549 views
Have we fixed the italics bug in IE yet? Have we? Oh, the suspense is killing me. For some reason the border (on the right) seems to go out the window as soon as there are fonts in italics (at least Verdana / Arial) next to it. What actually happens is that the box is streched out a couple of pixels and thus appear “broken”.
Update1: I guess the problem still exists. Seems fine with Firefox and Opera though. I’ll see what I can do to compensate. I really like italics. Not being able to use the tag is almost like refraining from using punctuation marks.
Update2: After doing some searching I realized that this bug is old news. And thanks to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Web Development Office’s quirks site I was able to remedy it. The solution was simple. Just add an extra <style=’width: 99%;’> </div> around the text field. Nesting it closest to the actual text. It was not possible to just throw it in the .boxtext CSS group that I use to format the item boxes. It had to be an extra <div> or whatever. Of course I also had to decrease the margin-right of the .boxtext to make up for the extra space. Tested in Firefox as well.
Filed under Uncategorized by Björn Hallberg 6 years, 1 month ago | 674 views
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