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| SPIFFY NEW NEWS UPDATER | Date:Sun Aug 8 17:47:39 1999 |
Thanks to the efforts of Yohimbe, the site now has a new news update feature which means I'll be updating the Static with news items throughout the day, instead of mainly at midnight. This is perfect timing, as I'll be able to post news from the floor of Linux World Expo, and also (soon) maintain an automated news archiving feature. Spiff.
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| Date:Sun Aug 8 17:47:11 1999 |
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| INTERVIEW AT SLASHDOT | Date:Sun Aug 8 00:41:35 1999 |
I have to stop doing that -- assuming that everyone who reads UF also reads Slashdot regularly. Anyway, I did an interview based on questions submitted by Slashdot readers, so if you're curious, check it out.
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| USER FRIENDLY BOOTH AT LINUX WORLD EXPO | Date:Sat Aug 7 16:13:20 1999 |
Another update! Here's the deal: the User Friendly booth will be located at the dot org pavilion, and we'll have t-shirts and hats and possibly other things there for sale. Iambe, Arcterex and Kethryvis will be manning the booth; I should be there during set hours every day -- we'll probably have a sign up showing exactly when I'll be haunting the booth. We're also going to have some giveaways, and the idea is that you come to the booth to get a button, and five times a day on Tuesday and Wednesday one of the booth staff will be roaming the floor looking to bestow a prize on someone who's wearing the button. Each person who wins a prize will have their name entered for the grand prize, namely 25 O'Reilly Books of your choice, to be drawn near the end of the day on Wednesday. Our thanks to O'Reilly and VA Linux Systems!
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| DUST PUPPY TIME | Date:Sat Aug 7 16:12:34 1999 |
| The next merchandise item up is clocks. Yes, clocks...those cool things you have on the wall that you tell time with and base your lunch hour on. There are two faces to choose from: "The Gang" and "Dust Puppy." Head on over to the Merchandise section and check them out!
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| SIGNING TIMES AT LINUX WORLD EXPO | Date:Sat Aug 7 16:12:01 1999 |
I'm not entirely certain about which hours I'll be at the User Friendly booth just yet to do signings or to just sit and chat, but I'm committed to darken the VA Linux Systems booth with my shadow on Wednesday, August 11, between 2:00PM and 4:00PM. For Tuesday and Thursday, I'll make sure that there'll be a sign at the booth indicating what hours I'll definitely be there, although it's likely that I'll be wandering in and out of the booth at other times during the expo. Of course, our eternal thanks go to VA for sponsoring our trip down there!
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| BLAIR WITCH PROJECT REVIEW | Date:Sat Aug 7 16:10:53 1999 |
Again, no spoilers. The entire movie's premise is in between plausible and implausible, but the strength of it lies in its ability to thread its way into our sense of superstition and the tiny corner of doubt that always asks "what if?" The acting ranged from good to exemplary, and the plot advanced in very smooth steps. The pacing was simple but extremely effective for the subject matter, and by the end of the flick I suspect my adrenal gland had been seriously overworked. Be advised that I love scary movies, especially psychological ones like this one. However, I can't remember being this freaked out from a movie since I saw Hitchcock's Psycho. Sphincter factor of nine, folks. This is one movie you do not want to watch if you're scared of the dark. In closing, I have no intention of going camping for the next year or so.
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| MATRIX DVD RETURN RETURN SALVO | Date:Sat Aug 7 15:31:16 1999 |
| This was sent in by Donna Jaggard in response to the Matrix thread: Oh bs! This isn't a comparison between real modems and winmodems -- anyone will tell you that a winmodem is crappy, unless they're selling one. You show me one person who thinks that a VCR is better than DVD, and I'll show you someone who hasn't seen one. But then, I suppose you still have your handy old cassette player, and refuse to buy CD's, eh? Installing Quake from floppies still? While I think Warner Brothers is kinda shooting themselves in the foot by not releasing The Matrix on VHS (how many of us actually *have* a DVD player yet? I don't, although I *really* want one... the fact that my VCR is 15 years old and darn near falling apart doesn't affect that desire at all, really!) it's by no means "table scraps." Some of the neat crap you can get on DVD makes it all worth it -- I'm particularily looking forward to seeing some of my favorite flicks with a MST3K style shadow at the bottom, with directors comments interspersed throughout. And trailers that I don't have to download. And better sound, easier way to find certain parts of movies... why, it sounds like the same reason I gave up on cassette players and started buying CD's...
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| Date:Sat Aug 7 00:00:01 1999 |
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| MATRIX DVD RETURN RETURN SALVO | Date:Fri Aug 6 00:00:01 1999 |
| This was sent in by Donna Jaggard in response to the Matrix thread: Oh bs! This isn't a comparison between real modems and winmodems -- anyone will tell you that a winmodem is crappy, unless they're selling one. You show me one person who thinks that a VCR is better than DVD, and I'll show you someone who hasn't seen one. But then, I suppose you still have your handy old cassette player, and refuse to buy CD's, eh? Installing Quake from floppies still? While I think Warner Brothers is kinda shooting themselves in the foot by not releasing The Matrix on VHS (how many of us actually *have* a DVD player yet? I don't, although I *really* want one... the fact that my VCR is 15 years old and darn near falling apart doesn't affect that desire at all, really!) it's by no means "table scraps." Some of the neat crap you can get on DVD makes it all worth it -- I'm particularily looking forward to seeing some of my favorite flicks with a MST3K style shadow at the bottom, with directors comments interspersed throughout. And trailers that I don't have to download. And better sound, easier way to find certain parts of movies... why, it sounds like the same reason I gave up on cassette players and started buying CD's... SIGNING TIMES AT LINUX WORLD EXPO
00:01 PDT 06 AUG 1999
I'm not entirely certain about which hours I'll be at the User Friendly booth just yet to do signings or to just sit and chat, but I'm committed to darken the VA Linux Systems booth with my shadow on Wednesday, August 11, between 2:00PM and 4:00PM. For Tuesday and Thursday, I'll make sure that there'll be a sign at the booth indicating what hours I'll definitely be there, although it's likely that I'll be wandering in and out of the booth at other times during the expo. Of course, our eternal thanks go to VA for sponsoring our trip down there!
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| FIRST UF BOOK AT O'REILLY WEBSITE | Date:Thu Aug 5 00:00:01 1999 |
| It's been there since the beginning of August, but I figured I'd point it out for the folks who are interested. You can see the entry for the first User Friendly book at the O'Reilly Website. DUST PUPPY TIME!
00:08 PDT 05 AUG 1999
The next merchandise item up is clocks. Yes, clocks...those cool things you have on the wall that you tell time with and base your lunch hour on. There are two faces to choose from: "The Gang" and "Dust Puppy." Head on over to the Merchandise section and check them out! DEJA VU FOR THE MATRIX
00:04 PDT 05 AUG 1999
Mark wrote in response to yesterday's bit on The Matrix: The note from Spigot describing how Warner is going to handle the release of The Matrix left me with an odd feeling of deja-vu. It almost sounds like when I had to replace my modem a month ago. Replace WB with USR, replace DVD with PnP/WinModems, and you have my struggle to find a modem I could use. I had to go to five (!) stores before I could find one. Circuit City, WalMart, and even my formerly reliable local hole in the wall only carried WinModems and PnP, neither of which will I use. I finally found a jumper-config'd modem at Office Depot. And now Warner Brothers is trying to coerce us to go get DVD players in order to watch "The Matrix" when it arrives for home viewing. The rest of us who still trust our VCRs will have to wait in line for some market-hyped "Special Edition". Did a DVD manufacturer put them up to this? It feels like I'm standing in line for some table scraps that someone decided to put on a silver platter. They're still table scraps, and we're still being treated as second-class. MARK OF THE CRUD PUPPY
00:01 PDT 05 AUG 1999
David Evans Cook sent this in: This just caught my eye -- the UFie team on distributed.net currently has 666 members. Is this a good thing? OK, who put you guys up to it? :)
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| MATRIX ONE-EIGHTY | Date:Wed Aug 4 00:00:01 1999 |
Spigot sent this in: I just read this update to the story about Matrix only being released on DVD in the fall. Thought you and your readers would find it interesting as it clears up a lot of the stuff about what and when stuff is being released: "Another turnabout that has to have you shaking your head is Warner Bros.' 180 degree turn on the video release of The Matrix. The first report was that the studio would release the movie as a rental title only this September. Someone over there must have realized that the studio was throwing away tens of millions of dollars with the move. So now, instead of walking the meek road, the studio will set a precedent that may well become the blueprint for the short-term future of home releases. The video of The Matrix, at a rental price, will hit stores on September 21. And so will the DVD-Rom, loaded with special DVD-only materials and priced to sell at just $24.98 Nine weeks later, a "Special Edition" video will hit stores at a sell-thru price of $14.98. By coordinating this effort rather than just falling into it, Warners gets two bites at the home video apple, promoting the "Special Edition" for maximum effect and building the DVD market at the same time. In fact, Variety reports that some people at Warner Home Video believe that the film could be the first to break the 1 million DVD barrier. You go guys."
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| DUST PUPPY SIGHTING IN ROLLING STONE | Date:Tue Aug 3 00:00:01 1999 |
Primis sent this in: Of all the places to spy Dust Puppy. The August 19th issue of Rolling Stone has an article in it about Slashdot.Org (the usual drivel of Rolling Stone basically trying so very hard to act cool with cool "geek articles", when in fact it has no clue about geek culture and never will). Anyhow, on Page 121 of the mag Rob Malda and Jeff Bates of Slashdot are pictured and Rob is wearing, you guessed it, a Dust Puppy t-shirt. Dust Puppy in Rolling Stone. Not exactly a career highlight IMHO (can't we do any better than Rolling Stone?), but notable nonetheless. :-) Heh, very cool. Now that's what ZZ Top was referring to when they sang "Sharp Dressed Man," right Rob? :)
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| NEW UF WINAMP SKIN | Date:Mon Aug 2 00:00:01 1999 |
| Another UF WinAmp skin, this one done by Kelli. Says Kelli: It's my first skin, so go easy on me. :) So be nice everyone. Kelli's site is here. USER FRIENDLY BOOTH AT LINUX WORLD EXPO
00:10 PDT 02 AUG 1999
Another update! Here's the deal: the User Friendly booth will be located at the dot org pavilion, and we'll have t-shirts and hats and possibly other things there for sale. Iambe, Arcterex and Kethryvis will be manning the booth; I should be there during set hours every day -- we'll probably have a sign up showing exactly when I'll be haunting the booth. We're also going to have some giveaways, and the idea is that you come to the booth to get a button, and five times a day on Tuesday and Wednesday one of the booth staff will be roaming the floor looking to bestow a prize on someone who's wearing the button. Each person who wins a prize will have their name entered for the grand prize, namely 25 O'Reilly Books of your choice, to be drawn near the end of the day on Wednesday. Our thanks to O'Reilly and VA Linux Systems! COMMIES != COMMUNISTS
00:03 PDT 02 AUG 1999
For those who feel like picking nits with Sunday's cartoon, I'd like to point out that the term "commie" was not used exclusively as a colloquialism for "communists," in the sense of those who practice pure communism. I think that most of us can immediately think of an example where totalitarianism (a political system) reared it's ugly head over the body of something named communism (an economic system). And thank you to the vast majority who were nice about the nit-picking.
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