Wired News: Cinequest, a P2P Movie Fest

Wired News: Cinequest, a P2P Movie Fest The 15th annual Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, is an independent film festival with a digital twist. There is an impressive line-up of nearly 200 films, most of which are available to download via the festival's website. DVD quality downloads are available for ...

To catch film pirate, U.S., China follow spy flick to Shanghai

interesting To catch film pirate, U.S., China follow spy flick to Shanghai Laura Tunberg, a movie-studio attorney was browsing through eBay back in 2001 when a particular item caught her eye above all the rest. It was a James Bond DVD box set but the only problem was that her ...

Another great games day @ Trish's

Trish was kind enough to host another games day for the SAGE group today. Turn out was pretty good with most of the regulars and a couple of new faces. New faces where: Chris (which I decided they can just call me Chris #1) (oh, and let me know if you're outted as a Mensan and I'll link to your site), and Peter Zinn. I had met Peter's wife Bianca a while back (and that's how Andrew found the group through them), but hadn't met up with Peter yet. It's been a while since we've seen Jackie, so it was a pleasure as always having her in on the fun. Games Days for us can vary from the level of game play to chit-chat. Today was a higher games to chat ratio however. That's probably due to the pub night that was had on St. Patty's day got some of the chat out of the way for most people. I'll have a chance to catch up on some chat this Thursday when a big gang heads to an Air Farce taping I guess. It was a small group at first, so after Jen got some Jenga out of her system we started with a game of Texas Hold'em since even though we're smart, we can be caught up in the latest craze too. Scott won that though, with Jen in second. Chris & I both had gone all-in at the end and lost everything. Brock was keen on going back to the Movie trivia I had been reading out while they were all playing Jenga, but Trish had a better idea to try her Scene It! DVD movie trivia game. I had wanted to try these DVD games for a while, and it was fun. A good mixture between using normal card based questions and the DVD based questions, and a good mixture between old and new movies, and popular and obscure movies. I was surprise to be nailed with a Tommy Boy clip. Also, some how I managed to replace Meg Ryan in my brain with Michelle Pfeiffer - gack (hopefully Trish will let me live that down). Trish & Jackie ended up winning, with Jen & I losing second place at the last minute with Scott & Brock & Chris's team pulling ahead for second. Trish volunteered me to be chef for the evening so while I started in on making my famous Taco Pie (I had the recipe up on my site before the disc crash... I'll get it back here one of these days) they started up a game of Taboo, which is a staple in our group. I didn't play this one too much as I was cooking in the kitchen, but I would occasionally shout answers from the kitchen. The Pie didn't turn out as good as I had liked in the past, but it got rave reviews from the assembled masses none the less. I would have went for a bit spicier myself (but I didn't even think to ask Trish if she had jalapenos), then again not everyone likes this as spicy as I do either. After that we tried a new game (I think it was a new one of Shirley's?) called 'Best Sellers' (try to find a link to that on google with just the name eh? Anyone catch the maker?). It was a word game based on alliterations. Everyone would see a proposed book cover, with a title (such as 'Warm & Fuzzy' with a picture of a kitten). Then you'd be given 2 letters, and you have to come up with the opening few sentences of the book, using as many words that started with those letters as possible. If the fan feedback is great enough, I'll share some of my outputs from this exercise. For me, it was fun for the first couple of rounds, but quickly got tired. I think more than anything I was just drained by it. Way too much creativity of a type I'm not used to just sucked the life out of me or something ;-) After that we went for a different type of game, Apples to Apples. I enjoy this game, more because it's kind of random, but at the same time very telling about the people playing it. We play it were you get to argue for the different cards that you think should win. It's fun to try and throw off the judge too if they have it in against you, by arguing for a card that is not yours so they won't pick it :-D At this point, we packed it in since Jen's starting a new project tomorrow and she wanted to be on her best-rested-ness. Anyone care to comment on the fun had post our departure? An interesting fact that Trish noticed. While a bunch of people brought chips to the party, nobody (out of the 12 or so bags that were there) duplicated flavours. Oh, and Ray tried out his Buns 2.0 which with the mint cocoa toppings were a big hint (among most of us anyway).

Good Morning

Animal Superstitions. (via)

Game on. A very fast version of Breakout. (via)

Crash Test Videos - View Crash Test Videos for Cars, Trucks and SUVs. (via)

I needed a small Windows XP machine and a Mini-ITX board was the obvious choice. So I decided to build my "Windows XP Box" in a Windows XP box. The external dimensions of the box are a tiny 243mm x 200mm x 48mm.

With a little experimentation, I found that Google Desktop Search can be used as an application for remotely monitoring computers across a LAN.

motion pictures over weekend

The weekend is over!
Long live the weekend!

As always, our cup of weekend was overflowing with movies. Now we clearly know where all our money goes.

Friday night saw Sliding Doors. It's a nice timepass movie about the 'roads taken' in life, and how the roads are probably not so much determined by our will, but small incidents like the movement of little girls on staircases! Gwyneth Paltrow is Helen, and the protagonist. The movie simultaneously explores the protagonist's life. The confusion between the two versions is resolved through the fact that in one version, the protagonist colours her hair. When we picked up the DVD, I half thought that this might be a serious movie in a way, but it turned out to be quite okay in that sense. Nothing too philosophical to get all heavy over. The setting is British, and for that reason the word shag is used instead of the word fuck. I think it's a worth mentioning fact. Because everytime the word shag was used, Sri and I would end up laughing.

Now, the one movie that I had really been itching to see for some time is Driving Miss Daisy. I saw it when I was much younger, and could neither appreciate the depth or the pace of the movie. This is movie is brilliant, and moves you to bits and pieces. I don't know which is the actual strength of the movie, the casting, the script or the production. And my god, the breathtaking camera work! Even in its most intimate look of an elderly person, it never feels intrusive. Alfred Uhry based the story of this movie on his own grandmother (the Miss Daisy in the movie). I know the movie is not something that most people would find exciting, but Morgan Feeman and Jessica Tandy are simply outstanding in this one.

Bridget Jones : The Edge of Reason. Now, I simply loved Bridget Jones' Diary. The movie simply spoke to me. This movie is not as good, but is bloody funny in bits. The one interesting bit about the movie is it's desperate wanting to 'British', which almost forces the dialogues to constantly try and fixate on the British accent and terms. The movie used the word 'Shag' some 213233 times.

Ordinary Decent Criminal. We saw the movie. Didn’t' feel much for it. Vague. It was funny in small bits, and a bit interesting. But I really didn't get the fundamental feel of the movie at all. Kevin Spacey was far better playing the criminal mind in a movie like the Usual Suspects (an ALL time favourite!)

Koma Cantonese movie. Almost like a Hindi film. Tries to be all smart and I think the production team that thought they had an excellent story at hand. Complete time-pass. Not scary at all. :(

Million Dollar Baby. On reading the IMDB boards, it seems like a lot of people have very mixed opinions on the movie.

This is not a movie about how a greenhorn trains and wins everything on the way and becomes all famous. If it had been, then it would be no different from movies like Any Given Sunday. It's about the maturing of a relationship between an old Trainer and a greenhorn Boxer, and the sheer determination of a woman.

What I really liked was that Hilary Swank was a 31 year old woman entering the field, and not a 17 year old naïve character. I have my reasons. The camera's gaze often determines what is beautiful and what isn't. This woman, who was not anorexic to death, and didn't pat layers of make-up, was beautiful. Have you noticed how differently we celebrate men and women's bodies. Men's bodies are celebrated when they are rippling with muscles, and in a sense, the maximum they can be if they work out. Women's bodies on the other hand are celebrated when they are the minimum they can be. Thin, almost lacking muscle (no, just because the woman's underarms don't swing doesn't mean she is muscular!) and weak.

This was a strong woman. With muscles, and form. And so bloody beautiful. So bloody full of will power. Her easy trusting relationship with Clint Eastwood. And the movie while it speaks about how hard it is women to enter traditional male bastions, is more about the 'human spirit' and how unbending it can be. Its intensity doesn't unfold around the protagonist being a man or woman, but being a 'sportsperson'.The way the movie ended really made me sad. Such a tragic end. Shit! It still makes me all misty.

Movie Downloads made easy

I have experimented a bit with movie download services lately. This is one of the virtues being in the US. Most of the later described services are only available if you have an US IP address and US registered credit card.

I must say I'm very pleased with Movielinks services. Movielink has top DVD movies in divx quality for $1.99 to $4.99 per download. The download is fast at 1.1MBits. The download manager starts the movie usually after 5 mins of download. Having a 3 Mbit line at home I never had any interruptions so far. Also the movie selection menu provides recommendations for movies based on your user who did the same selection.

Movieflix is the super discount provider having a huge database of B and C movies but hardly any interesting movie. It's cheap but you are usually better off with free TV.

The third one is Cinemanow. The company raised several rounds of venture founding and provides probably the widest range of movies although many are older and more like B movies. The company provides many options (streaming, downloads). However the movies I had tested did perform poorly (downloads needed 50 mins before starting, streaming was interrupted). However most new movies are a bit cheaper than at Movielink.

I must say I don't see a reason to go back for renting DVDs but apparently on-demand movie download services have been a bit before their time too.

Last book you read: ausgelesen: Der Besuch der alt

Last book you read: ausgelesen: Der Besuch der alten Dame von Friedrich Dürrenmatt, lese gerade: Die dunkle Seite des Mondes von Martin Suter
Last CD you bought: uiui.. das ist schon ne weile her... hm, weiß ich jetzt gar nicht.. vl. mtv - unplugged
Last DVD you watched: Bekenntnisse einer High-School-Diva, so ein schrott
Last movie you saw in theatres: Robots, war genial
Last TV show: OC
Last telephone conversation: Mama, vor ner stunde
Last SMS you got: verena, gestern
Last person you talked with: andi
Last ICQ conversation: gerade: MikeG und Jorge
Last song you listened to: die nr. 1 der hörercharts auf Ö3, aber was das jetzt wieder war.....
Last thing you purchased: kinokarte, denk ich
Last food you ate: Müsli
Last beverage: Mango-Saft
Last shower: heute vormittag
Last meal you made yourself: tortellini mit tomatensauce und gurkensalat
Last alcoholic drink: hm.. ein cocktail vor über nem monat, denk ich
Last cigarette: maturafeier
Last physical injury: öhm.. heftige kreuzschmerzen im jänner
Last holidays: brüssel vor 2 jahren

Man, that Dennis Hopper sure can drink him some whiskey!

Got a Hoosiers DVD I’m looking to divest myself of.  Like new.  First $5 takes it.  Drop a note in the comments section or email me.

update:  Until the DVD is gone, try to hold off commenting on this post; I don’t want anyone who might be interested in the movie to miss about because they see a comment and assume the DVD has already been claimed. 

To those of you whose comments this affects, I’ll re-open them once the DVD has been claimed.

Quiet.

No iTunes. No movie clips. No dvd’s. No fans. No iPod. Closed window. No roommates. Just the sound of my laptop whirring away as I type, and ice clink-clink-clink-ing in my glass of iced tea.

I never really get to sit in such silence. I surround myself with music and background noise so much that all this quiet has become special to me. A lot of us do that. We immerse ourselves in a world of distractions, making certain that our minds are preoccupied to deter the thoughts that would actually invoke the wrong kinds of emotion: Fear, Disgust, Anger, Mistrust, Helplessness…

I have spotted my times of weakness. I speak of the times where I catch myself walking through the sludge that has accumulated in my mind over the years. It doesn’t happen often (only because I do not allow myself to), but when these small ’self-reflections’ occur, I am overwhelmed with uncertainty and my eyes begin to water. I will learn to cherish these times and embrace them as who I am; however for now, I am content just to be.

Showering for longer than 12 minutes. Sketching with a set of 64 or more crayons. Driving long distances with a dead iPod and nothing else to listen to. Sleeping in a bed that is not my own. Driving past a cemetery. Reminiscing of the good times I had in past relationships. Walking into an empty house. Washing the rice a second time before cooking it. Making dumplings. Shoveling the driveway. The third cigarette in front of a hotel. The ending credits of a sad movie. The last sip of gin. Sunset.

Micro DVD Player

play ripped MDVD movies

AnyDVD

descramble DVD-Movies automatically

Infernal Affairs Trilogy Boxset Limited Edition (dts-ex , 8 Discs)

The movie is about Yan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) who is a police undercover in the Triads while Ming (Andy Lau) is in the reversal of a triad undercover in the police department. Leading parallel but opposite lives, both feel the tremendous pressure as well as stressfully trapped in their false and increasing dangerous surroundings. Both have been walking on the thin fatal line until on one fateful evening they finally meet each other. On the other hand, both the police and the Triads have knowledge that there's an undercover amongst them and the chase is on as they compete who would 'dig' out their 'mole' first.

It's a Mood Board

Gonna try out something new here...

I had the idea a little while back of putting together a weekly mood board -- a visual representation of my week, things on my mind, music I was listening to, books I was reading, movies I saw, etc. Nothing too large or elaborate -- could be either done electronically, or scribbled/pasted on a 3x5 index card and scanned in.

So, here's my first go at it, cobbled together in Paint and Visio.

Thus depicted, going clockwise, starting from the upper-left-hand corner:

• "Monkey Gone to Heaven" by The Pixies -- The Pixies kind of escaped my notice back in the late 80s (hangs head in shame); just got the compilation CD and am getting to know them better
• The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby -- I like reading Hornby's work, I like short essays, and I too have bought more books than I have actually read, so how could I resist this; and it's darned funny, too
• "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" by Travis -- yep, it's been one of those weeks
• "Ladyflash" by The Go! Team -- have heard this song several times on dirtyradio, and it's more infectious with each listen; you can watch the video on the group's website
• Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy by Ann Rockley, with Pamela Kostur and Steve Manning -- it's for a course

The background features text from a cover letter for a resume that I sent out. You can imagine how much fun that is.

Not pictured on the board: The Incredibles, which I saw on DVD -- very entertaining.

hardcore babes in dvd movies

name="State"/>
name="City" downloadurl="http://www.5iamas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"/>
name="Street"/>
name="address"/>
name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"/>

Something good for a change.

I must pass along news of a delightful film. If you've not seen the movie, Secondhand Lions, I highly recommend that you rent it, buy it, steal it if you have to. It is absolutely the best movie that I've seen in a few years. It stars Michael Caine, Robert Duvall and Haley Joel ("I see dead people") Osment and the cast is perfect for each of their roles. It is funny to the point of knee-slapping, sweet and tender, and the acting is superb. IMO, it is a true "needle in a haystack". I never heard anything about this movie; I don't even know if it had a theatrical release. (I just saw it on DVD.) It would have won Best Picture, if I'd have been voting. It is the kind of film that they don't make anymore: a movie that shows the heroes in real life and the need of children to have them to hold on to, to emulate and to look up to. I really don't know if you can find any better actors than Caine and Duvall. Neither one tries to upstage the other but, instead, they actually play off of each other perfectly and the result is an absolute joy to behold. The only flaw in the film is that I wish that it was longer -- or, at least, a sequel was in the works. Run, don't walk, down to your nearest video store and threaten the staff if they don't have it. Has some gruff language in it but probably nothing your 12 year old hasn't heard before. Five stars.