http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin Tim Skirvin's Posts en Copyright 1993-2006, Tim Skirvin tskirvin@killfile.org 2006-06-29T00:00-05:00 1 daily http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11269 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080902214525$6769@madcat.stanford.edu> Newsgroups: su.org.asm,air.unix,su.news.stats.real From: tskirvin@stanford.edu (Tim Skirvin) Subject: Re: Air.unix Survival Movement Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:45:25 -0700 References: &lt;4virf3$4oa@elaine57.Stanford.EDU> &lt;g9g46u$t7g$1@news.stanford.edu> &lt;g9k83m$1id$1@news.stanford.edu> Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo &lt;calliope+usenet+.mil+.gov@stanford.edu> writes: >> Stanford newsgroups, ranked by number of articles: >> 28. 2 su.org.asm >> 29. 2 air.unix > Quiet, much? > We suck. At least the report is working again. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@stanford.edu) -- Information Technology Services http://www.stanford.edu/~tskirvin/ System Software Developer, Unix Team Stanford University </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11268 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080823051246$4b35@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: cmi.movies From: tskirvin@killfile.org (Tim Skirvin) Subject: _Death Race_ - *** 1/2 / * 1/2 Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 22:12:46 -0700 One of the more interesting review systems I've seen split the review up into two categories - the quality of movie, and the kind of movie it was *aiming* to be. There are good movies that are aiming to be good movies - _The Lord of the Rings_, _The Shawshank Redemption_, etc - and there are good movies that are aiming to be bad movies - _Evil Dead 2_, _Tremors_. I don't always like using that distinction, but sometimes it fits. And _Death Race_ - well, yeah, it was aiming to be stupid. I didn't really know what to expect going in. I knew we weren't going to get the original _Death Race 2000_, with its nascent social commentary and the like, but I was hoping to still at least be entertained. The way I saw it, there were two paths that this could take: either it could be _Mortal Kombat: Annihilation_, one of the worst movies I'd ever seen (but also one of the best movie-going experiences, because I got to MST3K my way through it in a crowded theatre), or it could be the original _Mortal Kombat_, which was fun and stupid and something I still pop in the DVD player every now and then. I got the latter. To spoil the movie, sortof: it starts way too slowly and ponderously, as we build up to the reason that Jason Staham ends up in jail (hint: it's in the trailer). Then we spend a while explaining the race. Then the race begins, and there's a whole lot of violence and death, and sometimes the stakes are raised for no obvious reason. Then there's a resolution that doesn't make any sense, and the credits roll. The plot holes are ridiculous. The characters are a joke, mostly racial stereotypes that are badly performed and conceived. The pacing was a mess, both of the plot and of the violence. Most of the good stuff was spoiled in the trailers. And I loved it, even though it was garbage. *** 1/2 / * 1/2. See it if you're into this kind of thing. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/movies/ Skirv's Movie Reviews </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11264 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080820051439$3dfc@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: news.admin.net-abuse.policy From: tskirvin Subject: Re: [HELP]Re: Shakespeare geeks have problems on our open forum.... Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:14:39 -0700 References: &lt;80f19365-cbe1-4532-b471-fba98400df02@a70g2000hsh.googlegroups.com> &lt;cd79e753-2343-4690-a27a-8366de46b37d@y21g2000hsf.googlegroups.com> &lt;48a8390f.254828@news.individual.net> &lt;1ilu2gu.1rft74417kibrwN%kmorgan@spamcop.net> &lt;g8fdkc$gvb$1@blue.rahul.net> axlq &lt;axlq@spamcop.net> writes: >> Moderating a group in place is not likely to be a good solution because >> of the problems involved in getting all enough news servers to change >> the status. > It wasn't a problem before, such as when talk.origins got robomoderated, > so why should it be a problem now? Things have changed a lot over the last decade or so. Trying to moderate the group in place would more than likely be unsuccessful on a large number of the remaining news servers of the world, to the extent that trying to do so would be practically impossible; and so those in charge of making those decisions (hi, Kathy!) have decided to not pursue that path. That said, creating a new parallel group would probably be not that hard in this case, and I could probably offer some tips and/or software. The hard part would be finding the moderator. - Tim Skirvin (skirv@big-8.org) -- http://www.big-8.org/ Big-8 Management Board http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11261 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080811154511$47f1@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.dc.universe,rec.arts.comics.dc.vertigo From: tskirvin Subject: Re: ANIMAL MAN & SWAMP THING in COLLECTED EDITIONS Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:45:11 -0700 References: &lt;18a82384-0646-4182-a47e-6bab7f6614ef@x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com> TODD TAMANEND CLARK &lt;tamanend@hotmail.com> writes: > ANIMAL MAN and SWAMP THING were my two favorite Vertigo books. > These are the ANIMAL MAN collected editions that I already have: > ANIMAL MAN > ANIMAL MAN: DEUS EX MACHINA > ANIMAL MAN: ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES > And these are the ones that I am considering getting: > - COUNTDOWN TO ADVENTURE > - FIFTY-TWO: THE COVERS > - FIFTY-TWO Volume One > - FIFTY-TWO Volume Two > - FIFTY-TWO Volume Three > - FIFTY-TWO Volume Four Don't bother buying 52 just for the Animal Man bits. It's not a horrible series, but there is essentially no connection to the Vertigo stuff. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/faqs/ Skirv's FAQs </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11260 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080810151515$5a4b@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: news.admin.net-abuse.policy From: tskirvin Subject: Re: [RFD] UDP against news.aioe.org Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 08:15:15 -0700 References: &lt;4872d2cd$1@news.darkshado.ca> &lt;pan.2008.07.08.06.30.24@rtij.nl.invlalid> &lt;4873d536$1@news.darkshado.ca> &lt;d3e8af5c28fc9576ee5afb79df3ab8d6np@goofysplace.com> &lt;489dc9f9$1@news.darkshado.ca> Jamie &lt;collect@darkshado.ca> writes: > Again yet another forgery coming from aioe.org I never > made this post > Some one once again is forging my name and email address > and domain. This is not news.admin.net-abuse.sightings. Please do not persist in posting reports of alleged abuse here. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) Moderator, much of news.admin.net-abuse.* -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/nana/ news.admin.net-abuse.* http://www.killfile.org/donations.html killfile.org donations </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11259 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080808205034$14e3@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: news.admin.net-abuse.policy From: tskirvin Subject: Re: [RFD] UDP against news.aioe.org Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:50:34 -0700 References: &lt;4872d2cd$1@news.darkshado.ca> &lt;489a0e5f$1@news.darkshado.ca> &lt;g7ddn7$75g$3@snarked.org> &lt;489a414a.6481812@news.individual.net> &lt;489a512e$1@news.darkshado.ca> &lt;lm1p94937k4o83od3f27fdunt4jefofs2r@4ax.com> yourfriend &lt;yourfriend@example.com> writes: >>> Finally, while Tim bocked one of your addresses, morphing to avoid >>> his filters is a deceidedly bad idea.{snip} > J> Tim never blocked me. Please get your information right > That's not what Tim says, although it took him a while to get around > to it. Indeed, I've blocked at least part of Jamie's attack. I'll block more of it if any more comes to my attention. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) Moderator, much of news.admin.net-abuse.* -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/nana/ news.admin.net-abuse.* http://www.killfile.org/donations.html killfile.org donations </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11258 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080806030438$277f@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: cmi.movies From: tskirvin@killfile.org (Tim Skirvin) Subject: Review - _The X-File: I Want To Believe_ Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:04:38 -0700 The Star Trek: The Next Generation movies have, for the most part, been crap. The first one wasn't too horrible, as a simple transition between the old movies and the new ones; but numbers two and four were about as bad as could be imagined. Looking back at these movies, the big mistake seems to have been trying to be bigger than the source material - trying to make "epic" stories out of a medium that supported either 43 minute episodes, or 22-episode seasons. But the third TNG movie - _Insurrection_ - was watchable, interesting, and kindof silly, but most importantly it was an *episode*. There were some cute bits, and the plot advanced in ways that never happened in the show, but at its core it was just a double-length episode of a popular, and long-off-the-air, television series. I offer this as a review of _X-Files: I Want To Believe_ because of one similarity: this movie was also just an extra-length episode. But there's nothing wrong with that for fans, like myself. _X-Files 2_ is creepy, silly, and just a bit ludicrous. The plot is sortof supernatural, but not really - there's a psychic but he isn't really the point of the exercise, and there's some medical stuff going on that's a bit out there but is vaguely plausible. Mulder and Scully's relationship is odd and compelling, as are their relationships with the FBI and the medical industry (respectively). And all of this really has the feel of the show, of just being a few years down the path of the creepy, silly, supernatural, medical, FBI drama that feels like a product of the 90s. So, it's an episode. But it really is a big one, not so much because of the plot (which advances things, but has nothing to do with the "Mythology" of the black oil, the bees, Big Scary Guy, etc), but because of the reminder that Mulder and Scully's relationship *changed* a few years back. It wasn't surprising to see the two of them still hanging out; it *was* surprising to see the two of them in bed, and realize that this makes perfect sense based on that last episode. That relationship seemed different, and interesting, and something that couldn't have been done well in the show. That makes it big in my book. I didn't expect much going into the movie, besides being something that the crowds didn't want to see (and given that there were seven people in the theatre including me, experience seems to be bearing that out). But I came out happy to have seen the movie, and a little bit encouraged to go and watch the show again, too. ** 3/4 - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/movies/ Skirv's Movie Reviews </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11256 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080804214029$0e3d@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic From: tskirvin Subject: Re: Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:40:29 -0700 References: &lt;9c042c92-f68f-47c2-b2bb-c8f61772839c@j22g2000hsf.googlegroups.com> &lt;jWalk.111288$kx.41946@pd7urf3no> &lt;ntdb94d04eq2nlbkhfl90gjnq89ql94d8j@4ax.com> &lt;Olllk.938$in.813@read1.cgocable.net> &lt;tskirvin.20080803181055$0b2a@vulture.killfile.org> &lt;99ccb15d-d773-419c-acc1-a25e34b5fa40@e39g2000hsf.googlegroups.com> &lt;_OClk.113017$kx.79236@pd7urf3no> Basil &lt;b.fawlty@noemail.invalid> writes: > Could, but why would any PC Gamer want to buy a gutted out version of Civ4? > They wouldn't. The two games really don't have the same feel at all. Civ Revolutions is a lot different than just a "lite" Civ IV; it's a "lite" version of the entire Civ line, with perhaps more of the core concepts kept than Rise of Nations but, well, not a whole lot more. I bought a copy for DS with the hope that I'd have a good portable Civ. That's not what I got. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/pics/ Skirv's Pictures </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11255 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080803181055$0b2a@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic From: tskirvin Subject: Re: Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2008 11:10:55 -0700 References: &lt;9c042c92-f68f-47c2-b2bb-c8f61772839c@j22g2000hsf.googlegroups.com> &lt;jWalk.111288$kx.41946@pd7urf3no> &lt;ntdb94d04eq2nlbkhfl90gjnq89ql94d8j@4ax.com> &lt;Olllk.938$in.813@read1.cgocable.net> David Alex Lamb &lt;dalamb@cs.queensu.ca> writes: >> The original post also sounds remarkably like an advertisment. > Yeah. The only way I could see CivRev being relevant here would be if > someone were trying to contrast gameplay issues or something like that. It's no Civilization, that's for sure. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/friends/ Skirv's Friends </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11252 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080728000550$2a1f@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: news.groups.proposals From: tskirvin Subject: Re: RFD: talk.rhode_island Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:05:50 -0700 References: &lt;FW9hk.14967$xZ.13765@nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com> &lt;g67s6g$16e$1@webmail.usask.ca> &lt;K9Lhk.13991$cW3.3936@nlpi064.nbdc.sbc.com> &lt;zFbik.15320$xZ.5929@nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com> &lt;4OIik.31465$co7.6345@nlpi066.nbdc.sbc.com> Michael Zarlenga &lt;mzarlenga@gmail.com> writes: > Support: 17, Oppose: 0. I'll vote for the group at this point, given a good name. - Tim Skirvin (skirv@big-8.org) -- http://www.big-8.org/ Big-8 Management Board http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11251 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080725064035$295b@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: cmi.movies From: tskirvin@killfile.org (Tim Skirvin) Subject: Review - _The Dark Knight_ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:40:35 -0700 I missed out on seeing _The Dark Knight_ during opening weekend because of a series of misadventures involving a bachelor party. This was upsetting not only because I was looking forward to seeing it with my friend the groom-to-be, but because I had been looking forward to this movie since I saw _Batman Begins_ at the Lorraine back in 2005. Now, a week into its release and dozens of hyperbolic movie and media reviews later, I finally found a couple of friends and made it to the theatre to see it for myself. A bit of background: I have always enjoyed Batman, and that movie had fulfilled the promise that others might understand what makes the character so interesting; so now, without an origin story to deal with, a true Batman story could be told. Given that level of attention, I find it somewhat surprising that I'm not entirely sure what to say about the movie, or even what I *think* about it. I can say, for starters, that this was an excellent movie, amongst the best superhero movies ever made. I can also say that is not the same as most other superhero movies; it may have shared many components (costumes, outrageous plots, heroic self-sacrifice and other themes, etc), but it wasn't told the same way, at least not through all of it. And I can say with even less fear of contradiction that Heath Ledger did an excellent job as the Joker - probably too good for a PG-13 rated role, really - and will be the iconic version of the character for some time to come, at least in my book. On the other hand, the movie was far from perfect. It felt like it was paced for a mid-sized television mini-series; it was even episodic enough to support it. Starting in media res was a good idea and all, but it still felt like we were jumping too fast, too often, to get through too much plot. The plot was convoluted in a way that was trying to be smart, but really wasn't. And as many others have said, it seemed like Batman was a guest in his own movie. But those points didn't really detract much from the movie, they just knock the movie from "perfection" down to "almost as good as _Batman Begins_". The special effects, the gadgets, the characters, the unrelenting darkness - these points were glorious and wonderful. Even the humor was genuinely funny. And, perhaps relevant only to me, the shots filmed in Chicago made me once again feel at home. It was a bold attempt to merge a superhero movie with a crime drama. I don't think this movie particularly succeeded in that; but I'm glad that it tried. And I'll probably see it again this next weekend - though perhaps only after watching Batman Begins again. *** 1/2 - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/movies/ Skirv's Movie Reviews </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11249 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080718041844$26f5@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: humanities.philosophy.objectivism From: tskirvin Subject: Re: Why is there no (active) moderator for this group? Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:18:44 -0700 References: &lt;16a95310-76da-4e96-b7ca-3bcf5247d928@j1g2000prb.googlegroups.com> "No. 6" &lt;essxjay@gmail.com> writes: > Just curious. I'm just lazy, I guess. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) Moderator, humanities.philosophy.objectivism -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/hpo/ humanities.philosophy.objectivism http://www.killfile.org/donations.html killfile.org donations </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11248 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080716190422$5110@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: cmi.classifieds.vehicles From: tskirvin Subject: Re: FOR SALE --- Toyota Corolla 1997 --- $4000 obo Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:04:22 -0700 References: &lt;g4tip1$2th$1@news.ks.uiuc.edu> &lt;g4tj9e$5k1$2@blackhelicopter.databasix.com> &lt;g55hsq$bvc$1@news.ks.uiuc.edu> &lt;glc3amhsg41.fsf@login1.lis.uiuc.edu> Dave Dubin &lt;ddubin@uiuc.edu> writes: >> I'm assuming Gary here is not affiliated with CMI, UIUC, or UC in >> general. > Right. He's an asshole. Ignore him. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/moderate/ Skirv's Moderation </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11247 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080705013350$188b@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic From: tskirvin Subject: Re: Colonization coming Date: Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:33:50 -0700 References: &lt;jk9r44tjtnluvc7j5ckl4b4c3mblo918nc@4ax.com> noman &lt;no_m_an@zzzyahoo.yycom> writes: > http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewthread&threadid=88394 Grr! I thought that Alpha Centauri won the poll! - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/faq/ SkirvFAQ </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11246 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080705012038$28d3@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: cmi.consumer.gourmand From: tskirvin Subject: Re: Thai cuisine in CU Date: Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:20:38 -0700 References: &lt;uiucguest.20080630024555$12ec@news.ks.uiuc.edu> &lt;tskirvin.20080704055305$4cfd@vulture.killfile.org> &lt;g4mc4c$lhu$1@badger.ncsa.uiuc.edu> plutchak@see.headers (Joel) writes: >> I miss C-U Thai food. > Surely, SURELY, you can find good Thai in NoCal... right? > I know I had good Thai down south in Pasadena, and would > find it hard to believe you can't find any up north. Oh, I'm fairly happy with the Thai food here; I'm happier with the Indian, mind, and getting much more into Mediterranean. But there's lots of Thai here, and plenty of it is good. But it's not C-U Thai. I haven't found Pad Thai as good as Thai at the Y, or anything that fits the Chicken Yellow Curry from Basil Thai. I think it's really just an issue that you want the same Thai food you grew up with. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/moderate/ Skirv's Moderation </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11245 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080704055305$4cfd@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: cmi.consumer.gourmand From: tskirvin Subject: Re: Thai cuisine in CU Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:53:05 -0700 References: &lt;uiucguest.20080630024555$12ec@news.ks.uiuc.edu> I miss C-U Thai food. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/ Skirv's Archives </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11240 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080614012407$60b6@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: killfile.test From: tskirvin Subject: testing Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:24:07 -0700 looks okay... </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11239 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080611051126$3df3@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: talk.current-events,news.admin.misc From: tskirvin Subject: Major ISPs cutting Usenet (mostly alt.*) Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:11:26 -0700 [note followups] http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9964895-38.html From the article, Time-Warner is going to shut down their Usenet service altogether, and Sprint and Verizon are going to shut down either alt.* or large portions of it. I'm not really sure what to say about it. It seems like a pretty poor excuse to do it, but I suspect it's just an excuse. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/faqs/ Skirv's FAQs </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11238 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080603151024$68d7@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: uiuc.test From: tskirvin Subject: testing again Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:10:24 -0700 Let .test survive forever! - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.stanford.edu/~tskirvin/ Skiv's Work + CV </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11237 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080603150920$6e43@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: uiuc.test From: tskirvin Subject: Testing Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:09:20 -0700 Two-ways? - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/current/ Skirv's Current Life </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11235 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080602062436$65b8@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: cmi.movies From: tskirvin@killfile.org (Tim Skirvin) Subject: _Sex and the City_ - 2 stars Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:24:36 -0700 I tried to see Sex and the City on Friday night. I suspect that would have been the right way to see it; certainly the theatre was packed that night, given that I was unable to find parking in the humongous lot. I gave up and returned home instead, bitter and a bit annoyed that I wouldn't be able to write up my review right away. Instead, I only got to read about the experience from the other straight male reviewers - the fashion-related gasping, the excitement at plot twists, and so forth - rather than participating in what was clearly The Girl Movie Event of the last decade or so. Instead, I waited until Sunday to see the movie. It was less of an Event then, but still, it was an event. The audience was packed, and you could see the groups of women everywhere, psyched to be there with friends and/or coerced significant others[1]. So the atmosphere was still there, it just wasn't as strong. All that said, I think my review is still acceptable. The movie picks up a few years after the show left off[2]. Carrie is still together with Big, and is clearly even better off than she was when she started (how'd she afford to buy her apartment, again?). Charlotte is married to Harry with her adopted Chinese daughter. Miranda is living in Brooklyn with Steve and their son. And Samantha is living in LA with Smith. (All of this is actually fairly amazing; there have been no major changes in three years? But I digress.) Given that situation... well, Season Seven begins! Wacky hijinx ensure, relationships are put to the test, and things change week-to-week as things are torn asunder, put back together, and occasionally replaced entirely. Well, that's what the television show would have looked like anyway. The single biggest problem that this movie faced was that the original television show was episodic. Not everything would get solved every episode, but there would be an ending, a resolution if not a solution. There was always an A-plot, a B-plot, and a pair of C-plots - one plot for each of the four girls. And the show was built around the drama, and the comedy potential, of the half-hour format. It was by necessity both fast-paced and spread out. And that worked. This time, we got two-and-a-half hours of content - five episodes, give or take. The episodes were there - The Apartment, The Engagement, The Wedding, etc. The four plots were there, too - Carrie-And-Big Drama (A), Miranda Adapts (B), and the two minor Cs. But instead of having to *fit*, they just plain made a romantic comedy - from the girl's side, yes - and ran with it. The amount of comedy was probably about the same as a single half-hour episode before. Charlotte didn't get a plot. Samantha's plot was given a short shrift, and would have been best wrapped up in the first twenty minutes and something new tossed in. Miranda was a bloody idiot over and over again. Carrie, well, at least she got a plot and most of a season worth of material. There were good parts. The new girl - Louise, Carrie's new Personal Assistant (how can she afford an assistant, exactly?) - was by far the highlight of the movie, at least for the first half of her screen time. There were definite moments where the show shone through, and those parts I liked. Big was, remarkably, not a dumb-ass. But I still can't get over how few funny parts there were. And how little nudity - wasn't that the point of it being from HBO? Kim Cattrall was never naked[3], for Gods' sakes! Hell, she was hardly in it at all... I understand why movies change the formula of the shows that preceded them - you want something bigger, longer, and more memorable than your average episode, after all. Changing the formula is generally important; but it's also dangerous, and leads to mis-steps more often than success. In this case, though, it led to amongst the most dangerous territories: mediocrity. ** (out of 4) [1] I was the only straight single man in the theatre, to the best of my knowledge. I may have been the only single man in the audience, for that matter; even the clearly-gay guys came in groups. [2] Yes, I know how the show ended. Not only did I like the show[4], but it's been an important part of several years of my life. My biggest regret with this movie was that I was unable to see it with any of my friends. [3] Alright, she was naked-ish, by any reasonable definition. But her nipples were covered, and that's some sort of Hollywood line. We did get Miranda naked, and Charlotte naked-ish as well. And they showed a penis. [4] No, really, it was a good show and I enjoyed it. I'm surprised more guys didn't like it. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/movies/ Skirv's Movie Reviews </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11233 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080601065555$1698@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: rec.games.mecha From: tskirvin Subject: [MW:DA] More novels? Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 23:55:56 -0700 Are there more Mechwarrior: Dark Ages novels planned for publication? - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/faq/ SkirvFAQ </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11231 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080515185304$3466@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: talk.current-events From: tskirvin Subject: Gay Marriage Legalized in California Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 11:53:04 -0700 http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1530409120080515 SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The California Supreme Court overturned a ban on same-sex marriages on Thursday in a major victory for gay rights advocates that will allow gay and lesbian couples to marry in the most populous U.S. state. This should be fun. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tce/ talk.current-events http://news.killfile.org/?group=talk.current-events Read the Group! </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11230 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080514053433$07f2@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: cmi.classifieds From: tskirvin Subject: Free Stuff Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 22:34:34 -0700 There are a bunch of good items (many of which are in very good shape, many of which aren't) at my house in Champaign. As I am not in Champaign anymore, I don't have access to them; but I want them out of the house ASAP. So, if you would like any of these, please give my mother (Margie) a call at 377-4554; they will be given away on Wednesday between 5 and 8pm: * Couch * dresser * washer and dryer * lawn mower (needs tune-up) * 2 wooden desks * 1 metal desk * blue stuffed chair * office chair * several stacking padded kitchen chairs * nightstand * 2 coffee tables * round end table * several plastic patio chairs * queen sized bed frame and headboard * queen sized mattress and box springs * double bed frame & headboard * small bookcase * black floor lamp * brass floor lamp * small artificial christmas tree * ladder * electric clothes steamer * various cleaning items - brooms, mops * garden tools - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/cows/ Skirv's Cows </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11229 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080509010202$4a57@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: news.groups.proposals From: tskirvin Subject: Re: 2nd RFD: comp.lang.c++.misc Date: Thu, 08 May 2008 18:02:02 -0700 References: &lt;nan.20080501180147$176b@killfile.org> &lt;fvt4nv$lhb$1@vulture.killfile.org> &lt;308a5cc1-d9cb-4cd1-a725-36d87676a39b@d1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com> &lt;g004pl$61b$3@blackhelicopter.databasix.com> "Gary L. Burnore" &lt;gburnore@databasix.com> writes: > I'm still waiting for them to post the LCC. Have you submitted it yet? I haven't seen it in the queue. - Tim Skirvin (skirv@big-8.org) -- http://www.big-8.org/ Big-8 Management Board http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11228 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080505032956$08ab@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: cmi.movies From: tskirvin@killfile.org (Tim Skirvin) Subject: _Iron Man_ - 3.5 stars Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 20:29:56 -0700 As with so many others, I haven't been particularly looking forward to this movie. The trailers were okay and all, but really, the only piece of really good news I'd heard until a few weeks ago was that they'd cast Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark. That was, indeed, inspired casting; but would it be enough to get over my general Marvel Universe malaise, or continued annoyance that nobody liked Ang Lee's _Hulk_, or my general indifference towards the character of Iron Man in the first place? I guess so. The good reviews started coming in a week or so ago; everyone that liked comics *loved* the movie, and almost everybody else liked it as well. Sure, it's a comic movie to the core - big bad guy show-down and all - but it was made in the style of a popcorn flick, and it did an excellent job of it. And so my hopes shot up to the stratosphere. Were they fulfilled? Well, almost. This is clearly the best Marvel movie to date. It's a fairly simple story, told well, with extremely good casting and, oddly, pretty good acting. The core character of Stark was well-done and well-adjusted to the modern day; and the technology level was acceptably higher than what we had now. The special effects were, unshockingly, top-notch (though I could have used a better sound system to hear the sound effects; I miss you, Lorraine Theatre!). Most interestingly to me, there was clear interest in connecting things to the Marvel Universe, if only lightly - we're about to hit an age of MU movies with mild cross-overs, it seems, and that's exactly what I *want* to see. On the down-side... well, the villains are a bit generic, the cast seemed fairly generic, the soundtrack was not all that memorable, and, well, it's still a popcorn comic-book movie. But these didn't really bother me; it just meant that it was no _Batman Begins_ (or probably _The Dark Knight_). *** 1/2 for this showing; probably *** long-term. And for the Gods' sakes, stay for the end of the credits! There's a scene there. Sure, it wont mean much to a lot of you non-Marvel folks, but... just watch it. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/movies/ Skirv's Movie Reviews </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11226 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080504084110$7ea5@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.dc.vertigo,rec.arts.comics.misc,rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe,rec.arts.comics.dc.universe,rec.arts.comics.reviews From: tskirvin@killfile.org (Tim Skirvin) Subject: DC + Marvel Monthly Sales (March 2008) Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 01:41:10 -0700 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/category/sales-charts/ Reports. Also listed in RSS. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) Moderator, rec.arts.comics.reviews -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/racr/ rec.arts.comics.reviews </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11225 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080421144632$688a@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: humanities.philosophy.objectivism From: tskirvin Subject: Re: [ADMIN] Help! Was: Getting in shape is much easier when you have the appropriate sports apparel to wear. With so many online resources, you can now find almost any type of clothing for fitness and exercise, running, playing sports games, etc. Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 07:46:32 -0700 References: &lt;4bb09b92-a6c3-492c-a2d9-4f2be15cf398@u12g2000prd.googlegroups.com> &lt;7ef4e919-b9c1-456e-910b-ff909312db4b@s33g2000pri.googlegroups.com> &lt;bebdefa4-cab9-46dd-9784-550a72b20f09@k1g2000prb.googlegroups.com> Yeah, I'm on it. Wow. I've never seem quite this density of spam from a single spammer before! - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) Moderator, humanities.philosophy.objectivism -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/hpo/ humanities.philosophy.objectivism http://www.killfile.org/donations.html killfile.org donations </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11223 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080411044505$7247@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv.comedy.the-office From: tskirvin Subject: Re: Yikes!!! Tonights the night Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:45:06 -0700 References: &lt;D3lLj.112$qe3.56@newsfe06.lga> "wyzbang" &lt;wyzbang@yahoo.com> writes: > Welcome back. That was really, really awkward. Wow. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/projects/ Skirv's Projects </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11221 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080404025719$2628@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: news.groups.proposals From: tskirvin Subject: Re: Stepping down... Date: Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:57:19 -0700 References: &lt;tskirvin.20080401162114$4736@vulture.killfile.org> tskirvin@killfile.org (Tim Skirvin) writes: > It seems the appropriate time to say something about it - I'm > planning to step down as the Chair of the Big-8 Management Board shortly. > More details to follow. Well, for one of those details, this wasn't actually a joke. It was an April Fools prank, but only inasmuch as I posted about it on the 1st because I thought it would confuse people. Yes, I'm stepping down as Chair of the B8MB. I'm planning to stay on the Board, but as a regular voting member. We're currently working out who's going to take over as the new Chair; and as soon as that's worked out, my successor will get to do all sorts of fun stuff, like...well, I guess I can't really say what exactly, I can only suggest things. Why am I doing this? Time, mostly - I'm busy lately, since I moved and started my new job and all that kind of stuff. The most immediate trigger was that it was time to run for internal re-election; the last day of my previous term was 3/31. And also, I wonder if it's time for another change, and I'm not sure if I'm the best one to push it forward. I'll probably write something more formal later, if I can talk our new Fearless Leader into letting me post it to NAN. For now, I'll just say that I've enjoyed the job, I hope that I did some good, and I look forward to seeing what comes next. - Tim Skirvin (skirv@big-8.org) -- http://www.big-8.org/ Big-8 Management Board http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11219 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080402053915$34c1@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.misc,rec.arts.sf.written From: tskirvin Subject: Re: rec.arts.sf.written Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:39:15 -0700 References: &lt;47e11e7f$0$5634$607ed4bc@cv.net> &lt;47e298fd$0$15205$607ed4bc@cv.net> &lt;slrnfu668v.f0c.dbd@gatekeeper.vic.com> &lt;47e7aa75$0$25059$607ed4bc@cv.net> &lt;fsshj3$i2s$1@reader2.panix.com> Joe Bernstein &lt;joe@sfbooks.com> writes: > [faqs.org, which is essentially a news.answers mirror] >> It turns out that tons of the FAQs at faqs.org are outdated--nothing has >> been updated in several years, and no one can locate anyone responsible >> for it. However the domain has paid for through 2012, so there is >> little hope of even just making it go away. > Um, well, 2012 is much closer than the last-modified date of many many > FAQs. > The moderated news.* groups were mostly in advanced decay some years > ago. I was one of a board meant to revive news.announce.newgroups; > I profoundly disagreed with the approach chosen by the majority of > that board and handled the disagreement ineptly, so am no longer > involved. But one of the things that group did tackle with some degree > of success was doing something about the mess in moderated news.*, > and I know news.answers was on the list. I just don't know what's > happened more recently. The real problem is that faqs.org isn't really a mirror of news.answers anymore, it's a mirror of an *old version* of news.answers. That's not very helpful to anyone. Past that, there is a FAQ maintainers list again which is doing the old job, but I don't know how much has happened lately and I don't think they have any way to affect the faqs.org mess. > (This is partly a troll for Tim Skirvin, who is now head of the > nan bunch and who once told me he'd started reading rasfw, to comment.) I'm actually stepping down from the "head" position shortly, and I'm well behind on my rasfw reading lately. But that's okay, it still worked. (Happy April!) - Tim Skirvin (skirv@big-8.org) -- http://www.big-8.org/ Big-8 Management Board http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11218 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080401202704$00f5@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: news.software.nn From: tskirvin Subject: Re: Does NN support multiple servers? Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:27:04 -0700 References: &lt;L5mdnUPq7cSQAnPanZ2dnUVZ_srinZ2d@giganews.com> Aaron Hsu &lt;arcfide@sacrideo.us> writes: > Does NN currently support multiple news servers to read news? I read > most of my news using giganews, but some groups such as gmane.* do not > show up there, and I would like to get those from another server. Is it > possible to do this, or am I stuck with only one server? I've written a news proxy script to handle this: http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/software/newsproxy/ - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/projects/ Skirv's Projects </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11217 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080401162114$4736@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: news.groups.proposals From: tskirvin Subject: Stepping down... Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:21:14 -0700 It seems the appropriate time to say something about it - I'm planning to step down as the Chair of the Big-8 Management Board shortly. More details to follow. - Tim Skirvin (skirv@big-8.org) -- http://www.big-8.org/ Big-8 Management Board http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11216 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080324064018$0ee0@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: cmi.movies From: tskirvin@killfile.org (Tim Skirvin) Subject: _Horton Hears A Who_ - 2.5 stars Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:40:18 -0700 Dear Gods, a decent Seuss movie! I don't really have anything to complain about, to be honest; I've managed to avoid all of the live-action Dr. Seuss movies to date, and, while it sounds like this was for the best, it does mean that I don't have a lot of credibility on that front. Still, the popular consensus amongst the kind of people I talk to was clear - they weren't actually Seuss. But _Horton Hears A Who_ certainly looked like Seuss, felt like it in parts, and even managed to get some of the sound right. And that's reason to cheer. That's not to say that this was a great movie. While it makes sense that there wasn't much of a plot - this is based on a short kid's book, after all - I still wanted *something* more than I got over an hour and a half. And... you know, that was really my only major gripe. I liked that I didn't recognize Jim Carrey until after the movie was over. I liked all of the random Seuss-ian random machines. And I liked the scary yellow girl monster thingie. ** 1/2 - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/movies/ Skirv's Movie Reviews </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11214 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080324062725$57cf@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: cmi.movies From: tskirvin@killfile.org (Tim Skirvin) Subject: _Doomsday_ - 2.5 stars Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:27:25 -0700 I don't really know what I was expecting going into _Doomsday_. The trailers implied ludicrous zombie mayhem; this was enough to get me there. But there were no zombies; instead, there was more ludicrousness than I expected. And, well, that was fun. The acting was irrelevant. The explosions were pretty and unnecessary. The sub-plots didn't connect at all. I'm not sure that there was more plot than plot holes. None of that really mattered. ** 1/2 - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/movies/ Skirv's Movie Reviews </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11212 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080318061153$4d6d@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: news.groups.proposals From: tskirvin Subject: Re: RFD: comp.cygwin Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:11:53 -0700 References: &lt;nan.20080317155300$4b63@killfile.org> Mark Hobley &lt;markhobley@hotpop.donottypethisbit.com> writes: > REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD) > unmoderated group comp.cygwin > This is a formal Request For Discussion (RFD) for the creation of the > unmoderated Usenet newsgroup, comp.cygwin. I'm not sure what I think of the name, but I like the concept a lot. - Tim Skirvin (skirv@big-8.org) -- http://www.big-8.org/ Big-8 Management Board http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11211 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080312193403$49bd@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.dc.vertigo,rec.arts.comics.misc,rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe,rec.arts.comics.dc.universe,rec.arts.comics.reviews From: tskirvin@killfile.org (Tim Skirvin) Subject: DC + Marvel Monthly Sales (January 2008) Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:34:03 -0700 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/category/sales-charts/ Both reports are late, because of some errors in the original data that only got corrected a few days ago. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) Moderator, rec.arts.comics.reviews -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/racr/ rec.arts.comics.reviews </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11210 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080308230617$4a45@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: rec.games.mecha From: tskirvin@killfile.org (Tim Skirvin) Subject: [BT] MW:DA #30 - To Ride the Chimera, by Kevin Killiany - 2.75/4 stars Date: Sat, 08 Mar 2008 15:06:17 -0800 In _To Ride the Chimera_ completes the four-novel story of the re-creation of the Free Worlds League. This has been an interesting storyline, if for no other reason than the fact that the Battletech Universe has left the FWL comparatively alone since he beginning; and more surprisingly, I found myself actually *caring* by the end of it. Given that the FWL is probably the state most like the USA in the BT world, I find it interesting that it took so long to really delve into it. It's not a perfect book; the politics are interesting and somewhat compelling (to a regular reader), but their execution seems somewhat flat and peremptory compared to the last major political chapter in the series (Pandora's Gambit). But the 'Mech battles are well-executed and novel, and the characters human, for the most part. As a side bonus, the actions in _Surrender Your Dreams_ are referred to again in this book. But I suppose I need to make room in every review for that one... ** 3/4 - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/movies/ Skirv's Movie Reviews </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11209 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080308063958$703c@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: humanities.philosophy.objectivism From: tskirvin Subject: Re: Universal vs. Property Date: Fri, 07 Mar 2008 22:39:59 -0800 References: &lt;hc11t31egds1j5b7qjdt62u8q6pp1oclpo@4ax.com> &lt;35925d3b-11ce-4939-9a4c-29c85d81df1b@n77g2000hse.googlegroups.com> Elam.suxit@gmail.com writes: >> Many times in the thread on classes I seem to equate the terms >> 'universal' and 'property,' but not always. > Just another example of the persistent wanking idiocy of XXX X XXXX, > (XXX) XXX-XXXX [...] Article cancelled, complaint sent to provider, and I don't want to see this kind of "outing" crap again. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) Moderator, humanities.philosophy.objectivism -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/hpo/ humanities.philosophy.objectivism http://www.killfile.org/donations.html killfile.org donations </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11208 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080308054825$6a66@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: rec.games.mecha From: tskirvin@killfile.org (Tim Skirvin) Subject: [BT] MW:DA #30 - To Ride the Chimera, by Kevin Killiany - 2.75/4 stars Date: Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:48:24 -0800 In _To Ride the Chimera_ completes the four-novel story of the re-creation of the Free Worlds League. This has been an interesting storyline, if for no other reason than the fact that the Battletech Universe has left the FWL comparatively alone since he beginning; and more surprisingly, I found myself actually *caring* by the end of it. Given that the FWL is probably the state most like the USA in the BT world, I find it interesting that it took so long to really delve into it. It's not a perfect book; the politics are interesting and somewhat compelling (to a regular reader), but their execution seems somewhat flat and peremptory compared to the last major political chapter in the series (Pandora's Gambit). But the 'Mech battles are well-executed and novel, and the characters human, for the most part. As a side bonus, the actions in _Surrender Your Dreams_ are referred to again in this book. But I suppose I need to make room in every review for that one... ** 3/4 - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/movies/ Skirv's Movie Reviews </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11206 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080302091042$5a6d@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: humanities.philosophy.objectivism From: tskirvin Subject: Re: [ADMIN] killfile.org donations Date: Sun, 02 Mar 2008 01:10:43 -0800 References: &lt;hpo-donations.20080215084501$0301@news.killfile.org> &lt;fpgf87$jfj$1@vulture.killfile.org> &lt;1id4ix7.z90y8yrlyfthN%buchner@wcta.net> David Buchner &lt;buchner@wcta.net> writes: >> Does anyone else see what's wrong with this picture? I know that I am not >> the only one who gets value out of HPO. > Calm down, man -- it's only February. > Okay, now it's March, but... To be fair, if ever there was a time that donations would be helpful, it'd be now. Moving has been expensive. Thank you, Mr. Gardner, for your contributions to keeping the network running! (I'm also now multi-homed *and* multi-sited, which is kindof odd.) - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) Moderator, humanities.philosophy.objectivism -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/hpo/ humanities.philosophy.objectivism http://www.killfile.org/donations.html killfile.org donations </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11205 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080203181655$23e4@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.dc.vertigo,rec.arts.comics.misc,rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe,rec.arts.comics.dc.universe,rec.arts.comics.reviews From: tskirvin@killfile.org (Tim Skirvin) Subject: DC + Marvel Monthly Sales (December 2007) Date: Sun, 03 Feb 2008 10:16:55 -0800 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/category/sales-charts/ - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) Moderator, rec.arts.comics.reviews -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/racr/ rec.arts.comics.reviews </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11204 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080128015159$6907@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: cmi.movies From: tskirvin@killfile.org (Tim Skirvin) Subject: _Rambo_ - 2 stars Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:51:59 -0800 I was never allowed to see movies starring Sylvester Stallone when I was a kid; my mother was opposed to the violence of such movies, and so it just didn't happen. In some cases, this principle was probably a good thing; I still don't like most horror franchises, for instance. But this particular filter did hold back my appreciation of some American Cinema trends, by cutting out two staples - Rocky and Rambo. The former I have since seen in their entirety; but I only saw _First Blood_ a year or so ago, and I still haven't seen any of the sequels. So _Rambo_ - the fourth in the series, first in 20 years - was my first Stallone-in-Asia movie. My views were certainly colored by that. But this movie wasn't really that much of a surprise anyway. _Rambo_ is a bloody movie. It has a message, interestingly, and that message is probably a good thing to repeat: the situation in Burma/ Myanmar is awful, and the world should pay attention to it. But that message, while useful for a good fifteen minutes of the movie, is overshadowed by the constant, over-the-top violence and gore in the other 75. Perhaps that's not an entirely bad thing, though - perhaps such tactics will get the story told to a wider audience. But, well, that's not how it seemed to me. What I saw was a message, followed by lots and lots of violence, padded with some irrelevant character development. Think _Babel_, but with more machine gun fire, land mines, and raping. And I think that's about all I have to say about it. ** - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/movies/ Skirv's Movie Reviews </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11202 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080121220516$5807@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: rec.toys.transformers.moderated From: tskirvin Subject: Re: [ADMIN] Testing Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2008 14:05:16 -0800 References: &lt;tskirvin.20080118050514$6437@bofh.stanford.edu> &lt;edWdnR-NkZcH-A_anZ2dnUVZ_qrinZ2d@texas.net> &lt;tskirvin.20080120092334$5b73@vulture.killfile.org> &lt;upidnYdPROtt-QnanZ2dnUVZ_tmhnZ2d@texas.net> Doug Dlin &lt;apcog@hotmail.com> writes: >>> Does robo-moderator have an alt mode? >> Oddly, sortof. The 'bot is named Verimod; I always envisioned it >> having several forms, from fully-robo-moderated (battloid) to fully-hand- >> moderated (guardian), with the intermediate Veritech mode for when you >> have a nice mix. > Er, Guardian/Gerwalk is the intermediate mode. Fighter's the opposite > of Battloid, which means the hand-moderated mode has no hands. :-) Indeed. Oops. At least I only mis-spoke, and didn't mis-design a decade ago or so. (I've never handled a hand-only-mod group with this software, really.) >> So when you think of moderation, think of Jetfire! > Well, naturally, I--what? Skyfire, then. Your call. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/faq/ SkirvFAQ </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11201 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080120102048$7dfc@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: soc.religion.shamanism From: tskirvin Subject: Re: Is this group completely dead? Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:20:48 -0800 References: &lt;bb1358b6-03bc-485e-8f44-464c9205f59e@e10g2000prf.googlegroups.com> Effectively, yes. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) Technical Moderator, soc.religion.shamanism -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~srs/ soc.religion.shamanism http://news.killfile.org/?group=soc.religion.shamanism Read the Group! </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11200 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080120100510$6c3e@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: cmi.consumer.gourmand From: tskirvin Subject: Re: If I were to post... Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:05:10 -0800 References: &lt;fmgse3$lp7$1@news.ks.uiuc.edu> &lt;tskirvin.20080117070536$15f1@vulture.killfile.org> &lt;fmno93$4j9$1@badger.ncsa.uiuc.edu> plutchak@see.headers (Joel) writes: >> Of course, I now live in California, so I don't know how far that will >> get anybody. > So how's the food out there? More expensive, for starters. > Find any good restaurants yet? I've been waiting to sample most of the local cuisine for when my wife gets out here (Tuesday). I'm surrounded by a variety of ethic restaurants that look quite satisfying - Indian, Thai, Mexican, Japanese - though I haven't seen any good Chinese yet outside of San Franciso's Chinatown. I really like the BBQ Samplers at the Thai places I've been to so far; that's really nicely marinated beef! Of course, there are the standard restaurants. I'm curious how long it'll take La Bamba to open up out here; I think it's inevitable, and the slogan alone will go far. > Are there noticably different food trends in the supermarkets > compared to here? I haven't spotted much. Milk is ~$4.50 a gallon, bread is ~$3 per loaf; lots of other things don't seem that different. I'm not used to the pop deposit yet (that's a tax of $0.60 on every 12-pack.) I haven't convinced myself to go to Whole Foods to shop yet. I'm sad that Albertson's just left the area; Safeway is now running away with the market. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/buttons/ Skirv's Buttons </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11199 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080120092334$5b73@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: rec.toys.transformers.moderated From: tskirvin Subject: Re: [ADMIN] Testing Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 01:23:33 -0800 References: &lt;tskirvin.20080118050514$6437@bofh.stanford.edu> &lt;edWdnR-NkZcH-A_anZ2dnUVZ_qrinZ2d@texas.net> Doug Dlin &lt;apcog@hotmail.com> writes: >> We're robot-moderating now. Is this a good idea? We'll see! > Does robo-moderator have an alt mode? Oddly, sortof. The 'bot is named Verimod; I always envisioned it having several forms, from fully-robo-moderated (battloid) to fully-hand- moderated (guardian), with the intermediate Veritech mode for when you have a nice mix. So when you think of moderation, think of Jetfire! - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/friends/ Skirv's Friends </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11197 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080119084907$413b@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: rec.games.mecha From: tskirvin Subject: [ADMIN] Testing Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:49:07 -0800 This is still working, yes? - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/pics/ Skirv's Pictures </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11196 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080119084836$1b70@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: news.admin.net-abuse.policy From: tskirvin Subject: Re: [ADMIN] Testing Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:48:36 -0800 References: &lt;tskirvin.20080114024517$5d76@bofh.stanford.edu> &lt;fmeko5$cdq$1@registered.motzarella.org> &lt;slrnfon3e3.f1c.andrew+nonews@atlantis.supernews.net> Andrew - Supernews &lt;andrew+nonews@supernews.net> writes: > Not at any site that does any significant filtering... Tim, you really need to > pre-announce any changes in your NNTP-Posting-Host. (It would be even better > if you dropped it entirely...) Done, by the way. - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) Moderator, much of news.admin.net-abuse.* -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/nana/ news.admin.net-abuse.* http://www.killfile.org/donations.html killfile.org donations </pre> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/archives/posts/?group=archive.tskirvin&number=11194 <pre> Message-ID: &lt;tskirvin.20080119075356$5fac@vulture.killfile.org> Newsgroups: cmi.movies From: tskirvin@killfile.org (Tim Skirvin) Subject: _Cloverfield_ - 3.25 stars Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 23:53:56 -0800 _Cloverfield_ is an impressive monster movie, heavily laden with product placement (Mountain Dew and Nokia come to mind) and annoying plot twists and stupid decisions, but well made and intense and fairly clever. If you like monster movies, you'll like this movie. But to say much more than that - well, I suppose I could talk about the trailers safely (Hellboy 2 looks like my kind of movie! And the Star Trek teaser was fun too), but spoilers would really ruin the movie pretty badly. That said, I still want to talk about it. I'll just leave a few blank lines.  _Cloverfield_ is, basically, the _Blair Witch Project_ with a giant monster. The camera work is jittery, the characters make stupid decisions, and well, the entire plot device of using the camera the whole time didn't really make much sense. And the characters die in the end, in large part based on their own stupidity. I don't really know if this is a good thing or a bad thing; I suspect that it won't age that well. But it was a good experience. The _Jaws_ aspect of things was also good - we did see the monster, but not all that often, and more often we just saw its effects. In fact, the movie was *really* about the effects of the attack on NYC; the parallels with 9-11 were clear, but no less chilling for that. The horse walking down the street, still attached to its carriage but without a driver - *that* was a creepy image. And there were more such images, from the collapse of the Empire State Building to the poster shot of the head of the Statue of Liberty. The most real, though, was all the people standing close and taking cell-phone shots of that head. Tactically, most of the decisions made by the main characters were horrible - but I suppose that most of them weren't *that* shocking. That the group followed their friend on his question to the middle of town to rescue their mutual friend - that was dumb. The rest stemmed from that first bad decision. Well, there was one other truly bad idea - crossing the Brooklyn Bridge with the attack going on was a *horrible* idea. But that's the movies... It probably should have ended ten minutes earlier than it did. A few random things I liked about this movie: * The spider-things looked like Zerglings. They were too small, yes, but it was the right idea. * The range of alien powers was fairly unexpected. I expected infection, not Infested Terrans. (I have Starcraft on the mind now.) * The cutting between the various videos was interesting. * I don't think there will be a sequel. * Johann Kraus will be in Hellboy 2. Whee! Anyway - I'm happy I saw it before the spoilers came out. I hope that anybody that wanted to see it already did so before reading my spoilers. *** 1/4 - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org) -- http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/ Skirv's Homepage &lt;FISH>&lt; &lt;*> http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/movies/ Skirv's Movie Reviews </pre>