Dysmey Post Archive > Pages for 2003 > The Early June 2003 Edition

Early June 2003 Edition

The weather has been wonderful. Yes, even the cool, damp weather has been wonderful, for it means I can wear sweaters.

Saturday was very busy as I borrowed Padre's chain saw to rid myself of the larger branches in the back of the yard. Then I washed the car inside and out.

I have been whomped by a whole bunch of bills on top of the ones I usually pay at the start of the month. As a result I am a little squeezed at the moment. I will likely cancel my newspaper subscription as a luxury. I will certainly stop buying books and DVDs for a while until my resources are replenished. I except FLCL, whose last two parts I will buy in July.

savings

For those poor folk who can't save more than a small amount at a time, we really need something like the postal savings systems in Britain, Italy and Japan, and like this country used to have until the 1960's. I doubt it will ever come to pass, even if the Postal Service is willing. The banks will not tolerate it, and American politicians are too corrupt to keep their hands off the deposits. The next best thing may well be to force the banks to offer similar services at no charge.

internet explorer

I have read that the latest version of Internet Explorer (6.0 Service Pack 1) will be the last that will stand alone. All future versions will be part of Windows.

Now, is that surprising? Microsoft's fight with the U.S. government came about because Microsoft integrated Internet Explorer into Windows to the exclusion of Netscape 4.x. But that fight is over, and Microsoft is the de facto victor. It has even bought off AOL (which owns Netscape) with lots of money to ease AOL's financial troubles. It can integrate and exclude all it wants now, and who can stop them?

True, Microsoft was forced to reaccept Java into 6.0 SP1 in response to a massive industry outcry after it left it out of Internet 6.0 on purpose. But such events are rare.

But let me tell you straight: Thanks to open-source workers, Netscape is better than Internet Explorer. Mozilla (which is Netscape without the baggage) is better than Internet Explorer. Opera (the sole remaining commercial browser) is better than Internet Explorer. Also anything is better than Internet Explorer—except the rather crufty Netscape 4.x, which some people still use.

Just because something is popular does not mean it is good.

A lot of people do not understand or accept this. Take the broadcast networks and the public interest rules of the FCC. The networks claim that programs like Fox's American Idol fulfill the public interest because they are so popular. That is like saying pornography and drugs fulfill the public interest, for they are popular, too.

The Matrix Reloaded (for the last time)

My sisters went to see this film Friday night. Vickie has pronounced the film 'bad' and too long. Tina thought the film was too full of fight scenes; she also did not think much of the wall of TVs in the Architect's chamber. We all agree there was way too much of Zion.

The Animatrix

That series of animé based on the Matrix trilogy has been released on DVD. Mine came in the mail Thursday from Amazon.

The Animatrix is a set of eight (or nine, if you count the two-part history of the human-machine wars as separate) animé. Final Flight and Kid's Story are linked to The Matrix Reloaded; Beyond is alluded to by the Oracle as she explains rouge programs.

The Final Flight of the Osiris: The hovercraft Osiris discovers an army of sentinels on the surface. They are about to drill down into the earth to the human city of Zion. As the sentinels chase down the craft, one of the crew is sent to warn Zion via dropoff. This was made by Square Pictures, makers of Final Fantasy, the Spirits Within, just before it closed down.
The Second Renaissance, Parts I & II: The whole ugly history of humans' interaction with the artificial intelligences they made and abused; the wars that followed, with the darkening of the sky as a last resort; and the hellish birth of the human-generated power plants and the Matrix.
Kid's Story: I admit I was rather harsh on the teenager in The Matrix Reloaded, who I called a brownnose because he was so fawning on Neo when he returns to Zion. But Neo was right when he said that the kid saved himself. This is the story of how that kid did it.
World Record: There is more than one way to escape the Matrix, as shown by a sprinter who almost made it out while reaching for a world record.
Program: A woman in a kabuki-like simulation of Tokugawa-era Japan fights a fellow Matrix escapee who wants reconnected and has betrayed her to the machines. From the maker of Jûbei Nimpuchô (Ninja Scroll).
Beyond: While looking for her cat, a young Tokyo woman finds an old house, a favorite playground for the local kids. All sorts of strange things—rain coming into one room, sudden winds, freak gravity) happen there…strange enough to attract agents.
A Detective Story: The Matrix gets a gritty Art Deco feel as a down-on-his-luck detective is hired for a handsome fee to find a hacker who turns out to be Trinity. From the maker of Cowboy Bebop.
Matriculated: Humans capture a hunter robot and hook it up with them to a psychedelic simulation in order to turn it to their side. They succeed…too late.