LotR Research Project

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A team of researchers at Lord of the Rings Research is going to be looking for our impressions of Peter Jackson’s films, with the questionnaire going live the day that Return of the King opens. Could be interesting…

A unique opportunity for you to record your thoughts on the final part of The Lord of the Rings. From the day the film is released, you will have the opportunity to take part in the biggest ever international research project, to find out what audiences in all countries thought of The Return of the King. What did you enjoy about it? Did anything disappoint or annoy you? Was it important to you?

(via hegemony rules)

Get a cheap PC from AOL

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Okay — I’m no great fan of either AOL or Windows-based PCs, but I have to admit that if you’re looking for a cheap computer and are willing to settle for Windows XP Home and use AOL for your ‘net connection, this isn’t a bad deal (though not quite as good as they lead you to believe on first blush).

For \$299 plus a one-year AOL subscription at \$23.90/month (for a total cost of \$585.80), you get:

  • Desktop mini-tower PC with:
    • 1.7Ghz Intel Celeron Processor
    • 256Mb DDR RAM
    • 56k modem
    • 40Gb hard drive
    • 52x CD-ROM
    • 10/100Mb Ethernet
    • Windows XP Home
  • 17\” CRT monitor
  • Lexmark Z605 Printer

Now, admittedly, if you are willing to settle for Windows XP and AOL, you have my pity. But I do realize that in the real world, sometimes low cost and immediate availability can take precedence over actual ease of use, lack of viruses, stable operating systems, and general peace of mind, so I figured I’d pass this along. ;)

(via Things that…)

MiddleEarth mania, week one: The Fellowship of the Ring

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Saturday Prairie and I started our three-week string of Lord of the Rings movie watching with the Cinerama‘s showing of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition.

We started by wandering down to Westlake Center to get lunch at the Indian shop in the food court, then spent some time window shopping and trying to avoid the holiday shopping crowds. We wandered up to the Cinerama to see if there was a line a little over an hour before the show, and (no big surprise, really) one was already forming, so we hopped in and spent the next hour or so chatting and watching people line up. Thankfully it was a sunny day without too much wind — I doubt I can expect that for the next two weekends, but the wait wasn’t all that bad this weekend, and we ended up fairly close to the front of the line. After about an hour, we made it in, found great seats (dead center, about six rows back), and waited for the movie to start.

One of the things I really appreciated about this was that they didn’t waste any time. The Cinerama is already a nicer experience than many other theaters, in that they don’t have the obnoxious advertising slides projected on the screen before the show. Not only was that the case this time, but when the movie started, it started right in — no “pre-show entertainment” (commercials), not even any trailers — just a short AMC Theaters splash reel, and then we went right into the movie.

The film itself was, of course, excellent. I hadn’t watched it in about a year, since Prairie and I watched it on DVD just before going out to see The Two Towers in the theatre. Just being able to see this version of the film in the theater is such a treat. The entire audience was great, too. One of the things I noticed and liked a lot was how many families showed up for this, some with kids who couldn’t have been more than 8 or 9, and how involved they all were. Well-behaved, no fussing or whining (pretty impressive for a 3+ hour event), and even when things on screen were scary (the cave troll and the Balrog, for instance), they were obviously fun-scared, not nightmare-scared.

I do have to admit, though — while I was originally a little disappointed that I couldn’t get tickets for the full LotR marathon, after sitting in the theater through one film, I think I’m glad. I’m not sure my butt could handle 9-10 hours in a theater seat!

Our strategy in Iraq

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You have to understand the Arab mind. The only thing they understand is force — force, pride and saving face.

— Captain Todd Brown

With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here to help them.

— Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Sassaman

Great. Racism and beating the Iraqis into submission. There’s a winning tactic for you.

(via MeFi)

Is it that obvious?

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During a discussion of iTunes music sharing, which allows you to see what other people on your network are listening to, I mentioned that that didn’t do me much good, as I just have my little two-machine network in my apartment. Phil came back with this…

You ought to turn on your G3 and launch iTunes and give it a totally different name and pretend you have a friend.

Ouch. ;)

The dangers of mayonnaise

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A Texas woman was sentenced to 10 years in jail for running over the manager of a McDonald’s with her car because she wanted mayonnaise on her cheeseburger.

Waynetta Nolan, 37, showed no emotion Thursday as the sentence was read in court following a trial in which the McDonald’s manager, Sherry Jenkins, said she gave Nolan the mayonnaise she requested, but she flew into a rage anyway.

“I gave her everything she asked for — mayonnaise, no mustard, onions, everything I could possibly do for this lady. Mayo, mayo, mayo, and it’s still not good enough,” Jenkins told reporters outside the courtroom.

Nolan, who was convicted of aggravated assault for the April 23 incident, became so angry when a McDonald’s employee told her she could not get mayonnaise that she threw her cheeseburger into the drive-through the window, witnesses said.

Jenkins tried to placate her by offering a cheeseburger with mayonnaise, but Nolan continued to make demands until Jenkins finally called police.

When she went outside to write down Nolan’s license plate number, Nolan ran her over, breaking her pelvis.

Nolan testified that she was putting ketchup on her cheeseburger when she accidentally struck Jenkins.

Good to know that we can still settle disputes in a calm, rational, reasonable way (rolls eyes).

NetFlix Freak (nee Fanatic)

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netflixfreak101.png

There used to be a handy little application for managing your NetFlix queue called Netflix Fanatic. Unfortunately, it stopped being available a while ago, apparently after the author’s employer claimed that the app had been developed on company time and equipment.

However, now comes NetFlix Freak — all the goodness of NetFlix Fanatic, and then some.

  • Drag and drop to rearrange movies in your queue
  • Select two movies in your queue and swap their positions
  • Shuffle your rental queue
  • Fast searching of the Netflix DVD catalog
  • Add multiple movies to your queue in one action
  • Add new movies at the beginning of your queue, the end, or shuffle your queue automatically after new movies are added
  • Keep track of who rented which movie in your household
  • Import your entire rental history (not just the last 90 days)

…and much more.