Favorite links meme

Ok, so I've been tagged by SME, so I guess I should get this over with:

AnywhereBB: The greatest forum community I've ever seen, hands down.

Slashdot: I'm sure nobody's surprised I read the geek news.

XKCD: Geekiest webcomic out there. (There's a LOT of people who won't get it, either.)

Computer Stupidities: The funniest website on the internet, hands down! All about idiots trying to work with computers, and the poor bastards who have to help them.

4chan: I think I'm breaking rule number one of the internet just by posting this, but whatever. It's hard to explain why I like it, but it might be the dark sense of humor a lot of members have, especially on /b/ (Random.)

So that concludes my "Favorite links meme."

Youtube comments

Comments on Youtube are just too ridiculous not to laugh at. If the commenter in question is trying to be serious, he tends not to get his point across; or if, on the other hand, the commenter is trying to make a joke, it tends to be either stale and unfunny or spiteful and tasteless. Of course, there is an even worse third category: Utter nonsense. Take this actual comment, for example:

"we goona highway to hell... and nobody can do something^^

what is wrong with me, us all here... i don' know... cup with me i have holyday!!"

Everyone I know swears he used Babelfish, but it's hard to say, considering the decline in the quality of grammar, sentence structure and spelling in the past decade, especially in younger people. This particular comment was found on a video about the aftermath of the Columbine Highschool Massacre, and judging from the content of the message, I believe he is trying to this:

"What is wrong with humanity? We're all going to hell, and nobody can do anything. ^^

What's wrong with all of us? 'Sup! I'm on holiday!"

This man obviously does not know when it's appropriate to use cheerfulness or morbidity, but that can also be chocked up to my poor job at "translation." So, I've said what I wanted to say about that for now.

As a closing note, I want to show you what happens if I translate my interpretation of the commenter's message from Japanese back into English in Babelfish:

"Somewhere humanity is not strange, is? We are everything which has done to the hell and who somewhere our everything which cannot do with ^^ necessarily is not strange, is? ' Sip! As for me there is a holiday!"

We are everything which has done to the hell and who somewhere our everything which cannot do with, indeed.

Quick review: V for Vendetta (The movie)

I verily enjoyed this vigorous romp through the film V for Vendetta. I very much felt the movie was vatic of the uncertain times that we, as the vulgus, should take as food for thought. "V" (a contemporary vision of Guy Fawkes, the man who was volensed to the Gunpowder Plot) is a character with a voracious appetite for violent overthrow of a totalitarian regime vendicating England for the purpose of vastiditly collecting sums of currency. Along the way, he velociously dispatches a volley of foes, and falls in love with a young woman who yearns for more than she is experiencing in her life. (DAMMIT! I messed up, hardly any V words there.)

Bottom line: Good action movie which touches on some rather "shady" political ideals.

I apologize for the voluble verbigeration of V words in this review, but I am...a smartass.

Scientology petitions

Quick post, just want to put some petitions here, so they get signed. PLEASE SIGN!

Petition to make the CoS a cult.
Petition to disband the CoS.

Project Chanology

Because I do not want to take a biased stance here, I'll let it speak for itself.

http://chanology.cjb.net/

Trench coat:

I haz it. TELL me that doesn't look awesome.

Report:

Finished Lurker at the Treshhold. It's about like the other Mythos: Strange and slow-paced, up until the last few pages. But it was good enough.

Trying to make it through A Brief History of Time, but I refuse to understand "curved space" for some reason.

Also tackling Free culture, which I read when I can't comprehend Brief History.

Saw the last Pirates of the Caribbean. Depressing ending.

I feel almost superior to other kids my age. They're too stupid. I suddenly know what it's like to be a Thoughtcriminal...

Hmm, what else? I can't think of anything, so I'll wish everybody a Merry Christmas! Or whatever you happen to celebrate, but I'm not going to take the PC route and post it here.

Popcorn time: Zero Day

Drawing from 1999's "Columbine Massacre" in Littleton, Colorado, this little-known film from independent director Ben Coccio (also little-known) is easily one of the most disturbing movies you will ever see. So now it's time for me to start singing it's praise.

First, a little history: The screenplay (what there is it, because 75% of the film is intentionally ad-libbed) was written shortly after said Columbine Massacre. Filming came shortly afterward. But in the middle of production, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 struck America, and the movie was delayed. After a 2 year gap, the movie debuted at as many independent film festivals as it could get entry to. Despite poor reviews due to controversy, the film has managed to get a following and attract positive reviews and even awards.

Now, on to my review. This movie is creepy. I don't mean "EEK! Something jumped out at me!" creepy, or Hitchcock-esque suspense tactics, this movie is genuinely disturbing. The film follows 2 teenage boys who claim themselves "The Army of Two". They have a methodically detailed plan to assault the students and staff of their high-school. The movie follows their video diaries of their planning and their thoughts on what is to come and what they've already done, leading up to the inevitable horrifying climax. (No spoilers!)

First off, the movie is filmed almost entirely in cheap home-video, and all the actors in the film are, indeed, not professional actors. This was mostly intentional, in order to add a flair of realism to what is already shockingly accurate. That being said, I felt as thought I really were following the main characters, Cal and Andre, around in their many escapades, such as egging the captain of the wrestling team's house, or Cal going to the prom with a group of people he obviously did not feel comfortable with. You are forced to see the human side of a couple of youngsters who are obviously not entirely well.

Some of the scenes in the movie really grab you, and send massive chills up your spine. Listening to Cal's musings (Such as his telling his little cousin/nephew/whatever what it would be like if the world was ruled by old people, and they all hit you with canes, or when he used garbled analogies to express his excitement about the shooting.) or getting a glimpse of Andre's temper (Such as when he was angry with Cal for doing something against his wishes, sending him into a screaming, fist-pounding fit of rage.) really give you a feel for how detached these children seem from reality, seeking revenge for what would seem to some normal teen behaviour and the way the world works.


Some lines in the movie leave you wondering what you should think of Cal and Andre's psyches, such as one of my favorite lines from near the end of the movie, which is almost an homage to the Quentin Tarantino cult-classic Pulp-fiction. ("Ok, is it 1.2.3 go, or 1.2 go? Do I go on 4 or 3?" "4. Everybody goes on 4.")

The end of this psychological thrill-ride (heh) is one of the most bitter endings I've seen in any film. The last shot in the movie will have you wishing things would have turned out differently, but realize that the message of the movie wasn't to understand how this happened (such as what would have happened if the school had tighter security), but rather what would force a couple of kids to want to do such a thing. The movie does not attempt to make any sort of valid, specific point as to answering this question, but instead chooses to study the goings-on of a couple of teens wanting to even the score in an environment they see as turned against them.

If you have a chance, I urge you to watch this movie. This could very well be the most important film ever to come out of post-Columbine society. The DVD seems to be overpriced everywhere, but it might be worth it to support a decent independent filmmaker. If that's not enough to sway your opinion, let me leave you with this: It's only 1 and a half hours long (Not a huge bite out of your life.), and if you don't watch it, I'll kidnap you and make you watch it.