went to see the last legion.
here is my review:
it sucked. ok, there's the odd laugh, but really, they're the kind where three seconds before the scene happens you sit there thinking "oh i bet this happens next" and then six seconds later you sit there thinking "i hope this doesnt happen the whole time ir it's gonna be a long goddamn movie..."
im pretty sure the writers for this onw just got together and figured that they didnt really have to put any effort in to it if the ads for the movie make it look flashy. which they kind of do which is dumb because if you see an ad for this movie, dont go see the movie. the ad is better than the movie.
plus there's the fact that the kid who plays Ceasar is the kid who played the youngest brother in Chronicles of Narnia. and he totally sucked in that too. seriously, that kid is probably thinking "hot damn! im the next dan radcliffe!" while the rest of us are like "here, why dont you meet my friend Corey Feldman." actually. no that'd be cruel to Corey Feldman...GOONIES ROCK!WOOOOOOOOOO!!!
im glad i didnt have to pay to see this. in other words, dont pay to see this.
and now for something we hope youll REALLY like.
so i was thinking today about the $100 laptop project. and i was thinking, it's a good idea in principle but i wonder exactly how much thought the people behind this have actually put into what the ramifications of it are.
ok, i'll agree that it's a good tool for providing an easily accessible source of educational material for kids in developing nations. but. and this is a big but. actually it's several buts. which i shall list in no specific order for you now whilst consulting various aspects on the organization website:
1. it's meant to connect children in third world countries to the internet. ok. this requires a widespread wireless network that im pretty sure does not exist in most of the targeted countries. therefore we encounter a problem of building, maintaining and funding a blanket network.
2. "[the] XO can be recharged by human power. This is a critical advance for the half-billion children who have no access to electricity." again, this can be tied in to point 1, without electricity how does one support a wireless network? if, as the site says, each machine is a full time wireless router, doesnt that necessarily mean that in order for the network to operate in a fully functional way, that the bulk of them have to be on most of the time?
3. "the laptop easily assumes any of several configurations: standard laptop use, e-book reading, and gaming." uh...huh... because that's just what kids in the third world want to do on a weekend, a nice handcranked game of WoW. can we just pause here for a second to consider maybe providing these children with something that immerses them immediately in Western electronic culture might have some pretty serious and rapid effects on theirs? does letting a kid in the third world play games on his computer put food in his mouth?
4. an analogy if you will: if you've never met anyone who grew up sequestered from a television or computer this might be hard to understand. i know someone who never had a tv in their house until she moved into rez. 18 years having never really watched it. then suddenly put in an environment where it's always on. what happens, at least in this case, was that it was first approached with disdain, but then grew to a fervor and the individual, suddenly seeing what lies out in the world through the eyes of the television, quickly develops materialistic desires. a second example of this actually went on the news in edmonton a few years ago about a family who didnt have a tv and when their daughters slept over at their friends house one night they came home demanding to be given the cultural products they didnt know existed. what do you think is going to happen if a child in the third world is on the internet and finds out about the plentiful waste of material we have in the developed world?
5. a lot of these kids live in countries where, im willing to bet, that there are regimes or organizations of people who would rather sell these laptops on their owns terms that have them given out by the official organization. so when truckloads of guys with guns come to town and take all the computers away, what good do they do now?
6. "they, their families and their communities can openly learn and learn about learning." going back to point 4 a bit...one of the first things they will learn if they use this computer is that they want to be like us. that's all well and good, but how exactly will this desire be accomplished? giving laptops to every kid does not help the economic stature of their country, nor does it do anything immediate to alleviate their own social conditions. all it does is give them another way to see exactly how imbalanced the world is.
7. let's think for a second about the attitudes of consumers here. yes i know this is sort of coldhearted seeing as how it's a $100 laptop for kids in the developing world, but you know there's going to be some questions as to why, if a functional laptop can be made for $100, why are we paying $2000 for one? that's pretty much the nature of a free market society. when we see something that can be used comparatively to something we own for cheaper, we want to pay less for what we have.
8. im just curious here...it has two USB slots and an SD slot. how many USB keys or SD cards do you think these kids have?
9. while im sure that in north america we can find it easy to equate technology with a better qulity of life, that's most likely because we have easy access to plentiful food and shelter. now pretend you're one of the kids this program is aimed at helping. you dont have easy access to food or shelter. one day two people show up. one of them has $100 worth of laptop for you. the other has $100 worth of food and clothing. what are you going to pick. it's easy for us to think that technology can save the day, but being able to google something wont feed you or give you medication or help build you a new house.
so, good idea in principal, questionable in practice. at least in my humble opinion, to quote Billy O. oh jeez...
here is my review:
it sucked. ok, there's the odd laugh, but really, they're the kind where three seconds before the scene happens you sit there thinking "oh i bet this happens next" and then six seconds later you sit there thinking "i hope this doesnt happen the whole time ir it's gonna be a long goddamn movie..."
im pretty sure the writers for this onw just got together and figured that they didnt really have to put any effort in to it if the ads for the movie make it look flashy. which they kind of do which is dumb because if you see an ad for this movie, dont go see the movie. the ad is better than the movie.
plus there's the fact that the kid who plays Ceasar is the kid who played the youngest brother in Chronicles of Narnia. and he totally sucked in that too. seriously, that kid is probably thinking "hot damn! im the next dan radcliffe!" while the rest of us are like "here, why dont you meet my friend Corey Feldman." actually. no that'd be cruel to Corey Feldman...GOONIES ROCK!WOOOOOOOOOO!!!
im glad i didnt have to pay to see this. in other words, dont pay to see this.
and now for something we hope youll REALLY like.
so i was thinking today about the $100 laptop project. and i was thinking, it's a good idea in principle but i wonder exactly how much thought the people behind this have actually put into what the ramifications of it are.
ok, i'll agree that it's a good tool for providing an easily accessible source of educational material for kids in developing nations. but. and this is a big but. actually it's several buts. which i shall list in no specific order for you now whilst consulting various aspects on the organization website:
1. it's meant to connect children in third world countries to the internet. ok. this requires a widespread wireless network that im pretty sure does not exist in most of the targeted countries. therefore we encounter a problem of building, maintaining and funding a blanket network.
2. "[the] XO can be recharged by human power. This is a critical advance for the half-billion children who have no access to electricity." again, this can be tied in to point 1, without electricity how does one support a wireless network? if, as the site says, each machine is a full time wireless router, doesnt that necessarily mean that in order for the network to operate in a fully functional way, that the bulk of them have to be on most of the time?
3. "the laptop easily assumes any of several configurations: standard laptop use, e-book reading, and gaming." uh...huh... because that's just what kids in the third world want to do on a weekend, a nice handcranked game of WoW. can we just pause here for a second to consider maybe providing these children with something that immerses them immediately in Western electronic culture might have some pretty serious and rapid effects on theirs? does letting a kid in the third world play games on his computer put food in his mouth?
4. an analogy if you will: if you've never met anyone who grew up sequestered from a television or computer this might be hard to understand. i know someone who never had a tv in their house until she moved into rez. 18 years having never really watched it. then suddenly put in an environment where it's always on. what happens, at least in this case, was that it was first approached with disdain, but then grew to a fervor and the individual, suddenly seeing what lies out in the world through the eyes of the television, quickly develops materialistic desires. a second example of this actually went on the news in edmonton a few years ago about a family who didnt have a tv and when their daughters slept over at their friends house one night they came home demanding to be given the cultural products they didnt know existed. what do you think is going to happen if a child in the third world is on the internet and finds out about the plentiful waste of material we have in the developed world?
5. a lot of these kids live in countries where, im willing to bet, that there are regimes or organizations of people who would rather sell these laptops on their owns terms that have them given out by the official organization. so when truckloads of guys with guns come to town and take all the computers away, what good do they do now?
6. "they, their families and their communities can openly learn and learn about learning." going back to point 4 a bit...one of the first things they will learn if they use this computer is that they want to be like us. that's all well and good, but how exactly will this desire be accomplished? giving laptops to every kid does not help the economic stature of their country, nor does it do anything immediate to alleviate their own social conditions. all it does is give them another way to see exactly how imbalanced the world is.
7. let's think for a second about the attitudes of consumers here. yes i know this is sort of coldhearted seeing as how it's a $100 laptop for kids in the developing world, but you know there's going to be some questions as to why, if a functional laptop can be made for $100, why are we paying $2000 for one? that's pretty much the nature of a free market society. when we see something that can be used comparatively to something we own for cheaper, we want to pay less for what we have.
8. im just curious here...it has two USB slots and an SD slot. how many USB keys or SD cards do you think these kids have?
9. while im sure that in north america we can find it easy to equate technology with a better qulity of life, that's most likely because we have easy access to plentiful food and shelter. now pretend you're one of the kids this program is aimed at helping. you dont have easy access to food or shelter. one day two people show up. one of them has $100 worth of laptop for you. the other has $100 worth of food and clothing. what are you going to pick. it's easy for us to think that technology can save the day, but being able to google something wont feed you or give you medication or help build you a new house.
so, good idea in principal, questionable in practice. at least in my humble opinion, to quote Billy O. oh jeez...
i wonder if *insert obvious plot elements* will happen?
i took over the world at 11:24 PM
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