P2P File Sharing

Here is a very interesting article on peer to peer filesharing.

NapsterResearch

Movie Review - Crónicas

Cronicas

John Leguizamo (who can play serious roles) portrays a tabloid reporter from Miami who is working on a story in Ecuador on a child serial killer called 'El Monstro de Babahoyo". The near lynching of a motorist due to a car accident leads Leguizamo to meet the motorist. The motorist dangles information about 'El Monstro" in an effort to get his story publicized and gain public sympathy to get out of jail.

The relationship between the characters is very intense and I began to wonder who is telling the truth. After a while I wasn't sure who was in control, the reporter, his producer or the inmate. Leguizamo's drive to get the story leads him further into a maze of lies and half truths. He wants to be the hero that breaks the news on who El Monstro is, but he's being led astray...or is he??

Who's leading who and where will it end? The plot is tense I was constantly trying to figure out everyone's motives and what really happened.

From the director, "Even a merciless killer can feel love to a point, the same way a good, kind family man can be filled with dark thoughts."

Corporations

Do you ever think Western Union and Northern Trust Bank get together to discuss the direction of their enterprises?

Ahhh the types of emails I get at work...

Here's an example of what I have to deal with at work, and how I deal with it...

The situation: A coworker had asked about information that I had to retrieve from a database using a custom query. After I answered her, I get this: (Names have been changed to protect the employed)

Question:
Are you offended by the fact that I ask you a question, via email, so that you can answer it at your earliest convenience?
Or, do you prefer that I stand there, right next to you, interrupt whatever thought or conversation you may be having (with yourself or anyone else for that matter), ask you a question that is important but does not require an instantaneous reply, and then wait for you to reply?
If your answer is that you prefer for me to interrupt you, then please advise (and, you may be happy to know that you and P are beginning to think alike).

And I reply (my answers in blue):
Question:
Are you offended by the fact that I ask you a question, via email, so that you can answer it at your earliest convenience?
It takes a hell of a lot to offend me, an email does not offend me.

Or, do you prefer that I stand there, right next to you, interrupt whatever thought or conversation you may be having (with yourself or anyone else for that matter), ask you a question that is important but does not require an instantaneous reply, and then wait for you to reply?
I would actually prefer if you ask me no questions at all but I think that is outside the scope of reality so we will ignore my preferences on that point.
If the question does not require an instantaneous reply, then why ask in a medium that requires an instantaneous response? Although I do appreciate your desire to have me know that I should be at your beck and call, I don't think it's proper for you to hover around my desk like a hungry vulture seeking to peck out my knowledge in a piecemeal fashion. In essence, if the question does not need an immediate answer and I SEEM occupied, send an email. I understand that your hovering is territorial in nature but please exclude my cube from your "range".

If your answer is that you prefer for me to interrupt you, then please advise (and, you may be happy to know that you and P are beginning to think alike).
I taught the boy everything he knows.

How do YOU make decisions?

In game theory, mathematicians & economists (among others) try to structure a game and study how the people play the game to win.

This article from the Economist points out two interesting facts:

1. Being selfish or cooperative in a game, does not give you any sort of long term advantage. Nice guys finish equally as well as the selfish
2. The way we choose to play may not really be a result of voluntary choice but one of evolutionary stability
   

Do we have free will or are we bound to act along our genetic predisposition?

Movie Review - Mail Order Wife (USA)

We saw Mail Order Wife last night.

The film is surreal. It's a comedy pretending it's not a comedy. It starts off as a real documentary with screen notes and you buy it for a while until things start to go crazy.

Adrian lets Andrew film his search for a mail order bride. Andrew is a less than stellar husband and Lichi (the wife) runs to seek help from Andrew, one of the only other people she knows in this country. Lichi grows on you as you find out that she went from one bad situation to another. She flips back and forth between husbands and then you find out how much of a freak she really is. Not only is she desperate to bear a child, she has an obsession with pigs. Not the real kind, or the human kind (even though she's stuck with two of them (pun intended)) but the cheesy decorative kind.

The temper tantrums she has about pigs and having babies are one of the funniest parts of the film. It must have taken make tries to get the scene off because I am sure the actors had a hard time keeping straight faces.

You lose sympathy for Lichi when you find that she's even more of a freak than we thought. The two husbands, who can't stand each other but are forced to tolerated each other's company, cook up a wild scheme to rectify the situation. This is a great opportunity to bring in play yet another freaky character with his own individual motives.

Of course the situations all veer of course and it's funny to see how they resolve themselves.

Foreign Film Source

By the way, all the foreign films I have seen are being featured in the 2005 Miami International Film Festival. The ones that I have seen are only a small sample and there are many more available.

Ceck out the site here. You can read about the films and buy tickets online!

Tonight we are going to see Mail Order Wife. Review soon to come!

Movie Review - Old Boy (South Korea)

Old Boy (South Korea)

Imagine awakening in a hotel room that's been transformed into a prison cell and seeing on television that your wife has been ruthlessly killed-with no rhyme or reason to any of it. That's exactly what has happened to Oh Dae-Su, a kidnap victim who sits helpless as 15 years of his life pass by. He's then released and starts on his journey of understanding & ultimate vengeance.

This movie is absolutely riveting and definitely not for the faint of heart. There are some violent scenes and some subject matter is, shall we say, most unappealing. The theater you see it in will have 200% capacity. Why? Everyone will only be using the edge of their seats.

This is definitely a shock and awe movie. You'll be talking about it for a few days afterwards.

IMDB Reviews

Corporate Motto

Credit Counselor Motto: "I see debt people."

Movie Review - Kontroll

Just came back from watching Kontroll, a Hungarian film directed by Nimród Antal.

Another extremely good movie! (I may be addicted to foreign films now). The movie is set in the dark, depressing nightmare world of the Budapest subway system. I know, I know, I thought the same thing....Budapest, that's like really far away, and isn't that close to where Dracula lives? They need MORE nightmares?? Wasn't Van Helsing horrific enough?

Well, you don't see Budapest proper, you simply see the subway system. The movie centers around a group of five ticket inspectors that have the ignominious job of, you guessed it, inspecting tickets. Apparently, this is a profession of ill repute in this country and the poor guys get harassed constantly for asking to see the passenger's tickets.

Well, not only are the five notable characters in their own respects (a narcoleptic, smartass, newbie inspector, short tough guy and a dubious genius) they have to deal with murder, mayhem, manics, other gangs of inspectors (they are very territorial, it seems) and a chick in a bear costume (don't ask). You do get attached to the poor guys, the suspense is constant and the dark humor is laugh out loud funny.

The soundtrack is excellent and I am actually on my way to do some research to see where I can buy the move & music.

A full review can be found here.

Catch it if you can...

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Foreign Film Reviews - Ferpect Crime, Body Confusion

Look at Me: A French film that is too French for it's own good. Much like its country of origin, it meanders around aimlessly with only a few noteworthy moments and it flees at the first suggestion of a difficult task, in this case, finding & developing a plot. Ultimately, by the end of the movie, you end up with the same feeling you get at the end of a fine cutting edge French dinner...unfullfilled & still hungry.

Ferpect Crime: Spanish film that defines dark comedy. The main character, a master of his domain, even if the domain is only a mall department store (at least he rules over something) tries to rise in the mall pecking order but is sidetracked by a series of unfortunate accident & tries to find the sole witness. Very very funny.

Body Confusion: A Spanish film, the second Spanish comedy I've seen and who would've thought the Spaniards had such a great sense of humor? The main character find his life is nothing more than a bad movie played by bad actors. Think of the Matrix with a worse actor than Keanu. Well, more like a good actor playing a bad actor who is worse than Keanu. Very funny flick.

Take Note

It's hard to look menacing when you have a dimple on your cheek.

Please comment

For those of you who know more about the subject matter, please explain the religious arguments against those in the section on philosophical questions. They make sense to me...

From wikipedia:
(article in it's entirety is here)

Judas is also the subject of many philosophical writings, including The Problem of Natural Evil by Bertrand Russell and Three Versions of Judas, a short story by Jorge Luis Borges. They both allege various problematic ideological contradictions with the discrepancy between Judas' actions and his eternal punishment.

• If Jesus foresees Judas' betrayal then Judas has no free will, and cannot avoid betraying Jesus
• If Judas can not control his betrayal of Jesus, then his punishment and portrayal as a traitor in western culture is undeserved
• If Judas is sent to Hell for his betrayal, and his betrayal was a necessary step in the humanity-saving death of Jesus Christ, then Judas is being punished for saving humanity
• If Jesus only suffered while dying on the cross, and then ascended into Heaven, while Judas must suffer for eternity in Hell, then Judas has suffered much more for the sins of humanity than Jesus, and his role in the Atonement is that much more significant

The Bible also states that on the cross Christ forgave those that had contributed to his death, saying that they "know not what they do." However Judas seems to have not been included in this pardon.