Dysmey Post Archive > Pages for 2001 > Mid-August 2001 Edition
Sunday afternoon I traveled to Indianapolis to see Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.
It is a simple science-fiction story about Aki, a woman on an Earth destroyed by ethereal aliens. These aliens kill by tearing out the souls of their victims. They invaded Earth in a meteor decades ago, forcing the human race into fortified dome cities.
Aki seeks the last of eight 'spirits'. When combined, these spirits will release the aliens from their angry existence and let them return to their home world. Throwing obstacles in Aki's path is General Hein, who favors the straightforward solution of zapping the aliens to dust with a giant orbital laser.
The attraction of Final Fantasy is the superb computer graphics effects that render the characters' skin, clothing, and even hair (the most difficult to render) with astonishing detail. That was the reason I rode all that way to see it (I didn't have the time when it played in Muncie), and I'm glad I did. If it came out on DVD, I would buy it even if I had nothing to play on it.
Final Fantasy was playing in a cinema that evidently specializes in showing second-run features (those which have already played out in the bigger theaters). Seeing these features cost fifty cents before six in the evening, and a dollar thereafter. Even with the price of popcorn and drinks, that's pretty cheap, which would explain why the cinema has a slight tarnish of seediness on its Art Deco look.
I am almost finished distributing new computers in the main office. Just two people to go, but those two use specialized software that is a pain to transfer correctly. But I did it the last time I gave them new computers, and I can do it now.
These two constitute a bottleneck to my work. I asked my boss if we could do the two branches which will get new PCs (and which he has designated last) before these two people. I got a no, so the two have to be done.
Speaking of work, I will attend my first work-related social event: a summer get-together with food and recreation, including volleyball! It's mainly the volleyball that is drawing me to the event.
I have decided to abandon Windows 2000 for the time being. I am confident, that Microsoft will keep the operating system after they roll out Windows XP for the rubes, um, home users.
However, I decided to built a new computer with the latest (well, not obsolescent) technology. Accordingly, I first visited Zone Computers in Muncie. Their quote was more than I can afford, so I just bought a case. (I needed one, anyway; the old plastic Stargazer case is being to wear out.) Next, I visited TC Computers, my usual source for parts. (They were bought out by Insight. Unfortunate, that.) I ordered a newly-released Asus motherboard with an Athlon processor, 256-meg of RAM and a 30-gig hard drive for half the Zone quote.
The new computer will arrive sometime next weekend, which I will spend assembling (with parts from my current computer), testing, and installing Windows. If it works well, I will then swap mobos with Madoka, so that she will have a AMD-K6-2 500MHz processor. The Stargazer case will have in the end old equipment, which I will probably donate to some charity.