Info and forum posts by 'Mike G'

RE: The Doctor is back at last!

Quote:
Well it had to happen, a most dissapointing episode this week, story was real weak with those nasty things happening on Floor 500.

I supose we cant expect it to be great all the time.


Well, it was something of an anticlimax after the Dalek episode last week, but I still really enjoyed it - much more than I thought I would after watching the trailer. It was definitely the best RTD-written episode thus far (note: no cringeworthy farting aliens or heavy-handed pop culture references!), and absolutely miles better than episode 2.

Mike

RE: New York explosion??

Curiouser and curiouser (from Sky News):

Quote:
Police said shrapnel pieced together at the scene suggested that two "novelty" devices were involved.

One was the size and shape of a pineapple, the second like a lemon.


Exploding fruit?! :/ Sounds more like a malevolent prank than the start of WWIII, though I suspect Dubya`s got his finger on the red button as we speak...

Mike

RE: SO, will Jacko get off, views before his excuses start

Quote:
Someone said earlier that he was looking at porn with a blanket in a cot next to him.

He was looking at porn with Blanket in a cot next to him. Blanket is the name of one of his kids (which should be an imprisonable offence in itself! :o )

Mike

RE: Its Official - Tony Blair did not lie !!!

What about the Barbados thing?

(Blair supposedly claimed that as a kid, he`d run away from home and snuck aboard a flight to Barbados at Newcastle Airport. Later, the staff at the airport helpfully pointed out that there`d never been any direct flights to Barbados from Newcastle...)

This could decide how I vote today, it`s really important :D

Mike

RE: Ebay feedback query

Quote:
If the DVD you bought in your hypothetical situation didn`t play,you`d be entitled to complain,wouldn`t you ?

Again, it comes down to the seller`s behaviour - do they apologise and instantly offer a refund, or do they try to weasel out of it? That should determine the nature of the feedback you leave.

Bear in mind that if it`s a sealed DVD, the seller has no way of knowing if it will play or not. If it`s a second-hand DVD, it may work on the seller`s player but not yours.

Mike

RE: Ebay feedback query

Quote:
Now,someone here is trying to tell me I`m only allowed to leave feedback based on the seller`s service,which was excellent.


That`s more or less correct. You`re reviewing the seller, not the product. It boils down to: was the item accurately described? Was it sent to me in good time? That sort of thing.

For example, if you bought a DVD on Ebay, it would be completely unreasonable to leave negative feedback saying "This film is a right load of crap, the acting is wooden and the special effects are rubbish!" as that is hardly the seller`s fault. If you want to warn other people that the film is sh*te, there are other forums on the Internet where you can do that.

Mike

RE: Bizzare jukebox thoughts

I did once have some bizarre thoughts about a jukebox. Not nearly as bizarre as the Eggman`s, though! I thought about it after I went over to look at a jukebox which was playing crap music, and saw from the selections that it contained nothing but crap music. :(

I imagined a jukebox which looked like an ordinary jukebox, one of those old-style 1950s Wurlitzer models, and it was in the corner of a very ordinary pub which served ordinary beer to ordinary people. Unbeknownst to the punters, though, underneath the pub was a vast underground concrete bunker containing every 7-inch single ever made, and beneath the jukebox was a tiny trapdoor leading into this bunker.

Whenever you chose a song, the little record-picking-out widget would scoot down into the bunker on rails, run at lightning speed along endless corridors filled to the roof with singles, find the exact record you asked for, bring it up into the jukebox and play it. So if you got bored with the same 20 "classic hits of the 80s/90s" played over and over again, and wanted to hear a B-side by an unfashionable 50s crooner, or an unreleased demo by an unsigned death metal band... bob`s your uncle.

I thought of patenting the idea, then I thought... naah. :D

Mike

RE: Copyright

I may be wrong about this, but the copyright laws seem to apply to fixed structures but not moving structures, so you`re allowed to take a photograph of a car, but not a building. (Unless the car can be classed as an "artistic work", in which case the photograph would breach the "artist`s" copyright.)

Interesting stuff, copyright - it isn`t just about music, videos, and games, as many people seem to think.

Mike

RE: Shocking Reality: Group Sex and

Quote:
Hands up those of you who at 14 (or when you new you wanted it) would have turned down the chance of sex with more than one person.

To be honest, I`d have been pretty shocked to be offered sex by one person when I was 14, let alone more than one. :/

My life at 14, like that of most of my friends, consisted mainly of playing computer games, watching films, reading books, playing with toys even. :o I certainly wasn`t ready to join the teenage sexual revolution - perhaps many of today`s 14-year-olds feel the same way, but believe they don`t have much of a choice? :(

I don`t think modern teenagers, en masse, have any more of an "appetite" for sex than the teenagers of 10, 100 or 1000 years ago. As always, some want to shag like rabbits at the earliest opportunity, others would rather wait until later. Societal attitudes have certainly changed in the last few decades, though; ultimately, there`s far less pressure on horny teenagers not to have sex, but there`s also far more pressure on reluctant kids to have sex before they truly feel ready for it.

Mike

This item was edited on Saturday, 30th April 2005, 21:35

RE: minimum wage to be abolished?

I doubt the Tories would actually abolish the minimum wage, but if they don`t support it in principle, there`s a danger they could just let it wither away, allowing inflation to render it meaningless.

Mike

RE: Only in America

From the news story:

Quote:
The officers were called by the school after a teacher and assistant principal failed to calm down the little girl.

I think this is what it comes down to. If a teacher is faced with an out-of-control child who doesn`t respond to any attempts to "calm her down" (presumably verbally, as you`re not allowed to lay a finger on them these days), precisely what option do they have other than to call the police?

At one time, the girl would have got a good smack and that would have been the end of it. Not any more.

If teachers had the powers they needed to be able to deal with these situations, it wouldn`t be necessary to get the police involved.

Mike

RE: Quiches And Those Pasty Things

You mean those pre-packed pasties, like Ginsters and so forth?

They`re perfectly safe to eat cold - just somewhat unpleasant, like downing a tin of cold baked beans. Still, if you`re that hungry...

Mike

RE: `I Heart Huckerbees` and `Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind`.......wow these films suck!

One thing I`m confused about: why is this film referred to as "I Heart Huckabees"? :/

Surely it`s "I Love Huckabees"? I mean, it`s a bit like doing your shopping at "Marks Ampersand Spencer". :)

Mike

RE: Who has the biggest student debt competition?

It`s true that a degree isn`t worth what it was, and most students have highly unrealistic expectations of what their future earnings might be. The fact is, unless you`re studying something like medicine, law, or dentistry, you probably won`t get a highly-paid job when you graduate from university - even if you have a "good" degree in a "serious" subject from a respected uni.

40% of graduates end up in non-graduate jobs, and only 5% manage to get onto prestigious graduate training schemes in blue-chip companies. (Note that the Government only ever looks at figures from such schemes when talking about graduate salaries.) That is depressing, but hardly surprising when you look at the sheer number of graduates our universities are churning out these days.

As Hesketh and Brown wrote in The Mismanagement of Talent - "A degree still gives you entry into the race, but it does not guarantee a ticket for the winners` enclosure." See here for more details, it`s a real eye-opener of a book and well worth reading. I wish such a book had existed before I went to university, to be honest.

As for student loan debt - mine is close to 12 grand now. Fortunately I took it out under the "old" (pre-1998 ) scheme, so I don`t have to start paying it back until I`m earning more than about £22k gross (adjusted for inflation).

I presume the Government reduced the threshold (what is it now, £15k?) because it dawned on them that a significant percentage of students would never have to pay their loans back if the higher limit remained. :)

Mike

This item was edited on Wednesday, 20th April 2005, 16:32

RE: The Doctor is back at last!

You can`t beat a good fart joke. :D

Next week in "Doctor Poo":

(Rose and the Doctor are in the FARTIS)

Doctor: (Phhhrrrrrt!) "Aaaaah! Fantastic!"

Rose: "Aw, Doctor!" (holds nose) "That f***in` REEKS!"

Doctor: "Well what do you expect, I`ve been holding it in for 900 years!"

etc.

Mike

RE: over-riding dvd copy protection

DVDs created on a home DVD recorder don`t have any copy protection on them whatsoever, so if you`re having difficulty reading them on your PC it has nothing to do with protection.

In fact, it should be possible to "drag and drop" the VOB and IFO files from the DVD`s VIDEO_TS directory straight onto your hard drive, and then burn them with (for example) Nero. "Ripping" programs like Smartripper are only absolutely necessary if you`re copying protected commercially released DVDs.

Your reading problems may be down to the DVD-Rs (or DVD+Rs) you`re using - have you tried different brands? Also, are you finalising the discs after recording them?

Mike

RE: MG Rover goes into administration. :-(

Quote:
They are the motoring equivalent of beige.

And what`s wrong with beige? :/

Mike

RE: Doctor Who or Tony Blair - which will you be watching?

Quote:
Old time fans have to remember it won`t be like the "old Tom Baker stories". A lot of them wouldn`t work nowadays - it has to appeal to a contemporary family audience. Change is vital - without it, the series would have died a lond time a go.

I agree that change is vital, but I don`t buy the bit about "stories not working". When I mentioned the Tom Baker serials, I didn`t mean having rubber monsters and a companion straight out of an Abba audition (although in some respects that would be nice! :D )

I was talking about aspects like plot, tension, suspense - these things are timeless, and they`re as relevant nowadays as they were in Shakespeare`s time, let alone 1975. A good old story will work in any era, all you have to update is the way you tell it.

It seems the new writers have ignored the concept of storytelling and have turned new Who into a campfest, vaguely resembling (if anything) some of the sillier William Hartnell or Sylvester McCoy episodes, with a heavy coating of "oh-so-2005" irony and contemporary reference "comedy". Doesn`t work for me, I`m afraid, and the special effects (though superb) don`t make up for the lack of plot.

Mike

RE: Celbs with alcohol problems

Quote:
I think Tara para lara sara tompkinson thingy was drugs and not alcohol.

Alcohol - "it`s not a drug, it`s a drink!" :D

Mike

RE: Celbs with alcohol problems

Jim Davidson
Keith Chegwin
Vic Reeves
Roger Mellie

Mike

RE: Doctor Who or Tony Blair - which will you be watching?

I hated yesterday`s episode, to be honest. :( Brilliant aliens and effects, but the script was awful. (I`m talking about Dr. Who rather than Blair, in case you were wondering! :D )

There was virtually no plot, very little action, no suspense. What on earth has happened to the great stories, packed with suspense and dramatic tension, which sustained Doctor Who for most of its first 26 years? :/ If no-one alive in 2005 is talented enough to write new ones, can`t they at least remake some of the old stories instead of giving us this dumbed-down bilge?

"The End of the World" was just a cut-and-paste collage of science fiction cliches, "witty" one-liners, and lame pop culture references delivered with sledgehammer subtlety. The aliens looked fantastic, but then most of them had absolutely nothing to do other than stand around and look fantastic (oh, and bop along to Soft Cell`s Tainted Love - a cringeworthy moment if ever there was one. What little tension there was ended up being spoiled by painfully silly scenes like this).

Judging by the first two episodes, the new series is more like a spoof of Doctor Who than the real thing. Apart from the presence of the Doctor, and the Tardis, and a nice-looking companion, it has absolutely none of the elements which made the original series so enjoyable.

In short, if the rest of the series is this mind-bogglingly bad, I`m not surprised Eccleston jumped ship. If they make another series, I suggest they keep the production values and overall look - but please, get some decent writers (preferably good storytellers who aren`t pop culture obsessed) to create some engaging, multi-episode stories of a similar quality to the best Tom Baker-era serials. That would be just what the Doctor ordered.

Mike

RE: How well do you know your road signs?

7/10... :/

SPOILER:
What`s with that explosives sign? I have never, ever seen that one before, it`s certainly not in my copy of the Highway Code. It`s a bit unfair to invent new roadsigns and expect people to automatically know them. ;)

Mike

RE: Ebay and the Taxman

Quote:
I am sure they are not after people selling their old stuff. But if you are buying it with the express purpous(sp) of selling it on for profit, then yes, you should pay tax.

Can`t argue with that, but where does this "60 items" limit come in? I don`t see the Inland Revenue harrassing people at car boot sales because they have more than 59 items on their trestle tables, so it seems unreasonable to impose such an arbitrary limit on Ebay sales.

Mike

RE: copyright query

I seem to remember Viz comic (which did the "chav"/"charva" thing to death about 10-15 years ago) got in trouble over the character Kappa Slappa - they had to change the name.

Mike

RE: Why not Sir Bill Gates KBE

How about vanity? ;)



(taken from here)

Mike

RE: DVDSoon - beating Customs - but it`s hard work!

Quote:
Surely the fact that customs refunded you the customs charges, is an acknowledgment that it is the value that you actually pay, not the value of the item, that customs fees are calculated from.

If that`s the case, where exactly does the "gift" limit fit in? The customs limit for gifts is supposed to be £36 rather than £18... but if you received something as a gift, the value you paid would be £0 (regardless of the actual value of the item), so the limit is redundant. :/

Mike

RE: This Ken Livingstone thing

Quote:
Anyway, is anyone else fed up hearing about this?

Yes! I`m completely sick of the London-centric media going on about this, as though the story was somehow of national significance.

I mean, this bloke is the mayor of London, and the gist of the "story" is that he said something rude to a reporter from that city`s local newspaper. Wow, that`s really going to interest someone living in Manchester or Aberdeen. :/

Mike

RE: converting a VOB file

Download VOBEdit, that should do the trick.

Mike

RE: New Macrovision???

I`ve had a look at the Macrovision website - and it`s 97% guff, quite frankly! The only part which makes any sort of sense is the "Unique Digital Framework" diagram, and that doesn`t suggest that the new protection will be particularly effective.

Also, they claim 100% compatibility with existing DVD players and DVD-ROM drives. If that claim is genuine, the protected discs would have to be entirely compliant with the DVD standard - which wouldn`t be likely if a highly radical and drastic method of protection had been used.

Time will tell - but the pirates are usually one or two steps ahead on these matters. :D

Mike

This item was edited on Tuesday, 15th February 2005, 20:16

RE: Meet the Fockers - pish

Quote:
Firstly - Can you give me an example of any "hilarious" bits please ?
How about:

SPOILER:
Robert de Niro wearing a false "boobie", the "Wall of Gaylord", the sex therapy thing with the old duffers, Gaylord desperately trying to hide his mother`s books and phallic artifacts, Gaylord looking after the baby and things going pear-shaped, the reveal of Gaylord`s alleged son...

There are times when it gets a bit too much

SPOILER:
(like the whole circumcision story at the dinner table, culminating in the foreskin falling into the fondue!)

but all in all, I think "hilarious from start to finish" is about right.

Quote:
Secondly - I like all sorts of comedy,from slapstick to subtle,if it`s funny.

Fair enough. My idea of "funny" is obviously different to yours - no harm in that. :)

Can you name a few films you found funny?

Mike

This item was edited on Tuesday, 15th February 2005, 12:43