June 2003 Archive
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June 2003 Posts
I'm posting this from a friend's machine at Microsoft using a very early build of Longhorn (codename of next version of Windows).
If you scroll down the page you'll see that I changed how photo albums are displayed. Right now you'll see the same index photo twice, but when I get back from Seattle I'll make it so there are two unique photos from each album. I also used a cool DirectX effects in Internet Explorer. I'm going to use more effects like this throughout the site to make it more fun and easier to understand what's going on and where you are. Opera, Mozilla, and Safari users won't see these effects but the site will work fine with these browsers.
From Slashdot.org... It took less than a day for somebody to figure out the many ways that Apple cheated to make their newly announced G5 computer seem faster than a random Dell workstation. Apple used specialized code on their machine that doesn't work in real-world environments, disabled normally enabled features on the Dell, and only tested integer math, not floating point (decimals) math. It ends up a $1800 Dell machine still outranks the newly announced $3000 64-bit G5 Apple.
Unrelated, the Apple G5 requires nine fans to be on at all times, two of which must be running at full speed 100% of the time. No wonder the entire front of the case is covered with breathing holes. This also means a G5, after a week of use, will be full of dust bunnies and other dirt, assuming you can put up with the noise for that long.
Well, like most Apple products, at least it looks cool.
Update: Apple put out an email that claims that they did no wrong. Apple fans across the world shout in joy.
Google's ads are targeted based on the content of the site that the ads are placed on. Here's a simple Google Ad Words tool I created to let you experiment and see what ads Google what put on your page, or any other page for that matter.
A hillarious site that I visit almost daily is Cockeyed.com, run by artist Rob Cockerham. He's probably an ex-dot-commer, but I only say that because he lives in the San Francisco area, has no obvious real job these days, is constantly leading smart/funny pranks and experiments with his friend. If you visit just one site today, well, I'm glad you made it here, but you need another one to visit, give Cockeyed.com a try.
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At his family estate in Maine, George W Bush fell off his Segway. Must be a pretty big estate to need a Segway to get around. I had no trouble with the Segway. Wonder if he's testing it for our troops or his secret service.
I'm back, photos up soon. Gotta get some sleep!
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I should have posted this much earlier, before you all went to see the sequel, but oh well... If you stay until after the Matrix Reloaded credits, there is a brief trailer/teaser for the third Matrix movie (The Matrix Revolutions). Among other things you see the thousands of sentinels arrive at Zion and which looks impressive. If you didn't know the teaser was after the movie, well, now you have another reason to see it again.
Some Matrix Reloaded factoids:
- GM donated 300 cars for use in the production of the movie. All 300 were wrecked by the end.
- The 1.4-mile, three-lane loop highway was built specifically for the chase scene on the decommissioned Alameda Point Navy Base at a cost of around $30 million. It was destroyed when filming was complete.
- Only a few of the Agent Smith clones were actually played by Hugo Weaving. Open casting calls for males with similar body shapes and structures took place, and Weaving's head was superimposed on them later.
- There are 1,943 names in the credits.
Tonight I watched the Matrix Reloaded again, at the same awesome theater in Georgetown. Okay, I was very drunk the first time I watched it and said I liked it. After this second time, I must say this is an incredible movie. No more was I focusing on the endless fights, I was seeing the hidden details behind them. No longer was I bored by long confusing conversations with the Oracle and the Architect, now I was understanding them.
I formed a theory after watching the second Matrix movie about what we will learn in the Matrix Revolutions and after seeing Reloaded again and seeing that my theory still works I am ready to present it here. Warning: Don't read this if you haven't seen Reloaded yet.
My explanation of the Matrix movies (everything might make sense after you read this) (warning: this is my personal theory and might be totally wrong)
Humans are not power sources for the Robots as Morpheus has said. This is an assumption he and everybody else part of Zion has made. In reality, the Robots are using the Matrix to preserve the humans and keep as many "alive" as possible. Why would they do this? Because the Robots were built by the humans to serve the humans. The Robots only exist because of the humans and their only purpose is to serve the humans.
The Agents are trying to kill Neo and everybody else that is part of Zion because their goal is to destroy the Matrix. Destroying the Matrix would kill all humans that are connected to it, so that is why the Robots are trying to destroy Zion. Agent Smith also wants to destroy the Matrix ("I hate the smell" "I want out"), but he does not yet realize that his goals are the same as Neo's, but he does know that they serve a similar purpose, which is why he keeps trying to merge their code.
The French Dude is trying to kill Neo because he likes living in the Matrix. In the Matrix he has near unlimited powers.
The people of Zion also don't know anything about life on the surface of the planet. The assumption is that the sky is still blocked from the humans but it's been at least hundreds of years - by this time the Robots could easily have found ways to clean the sky, or perhaps it naturally cleared itself. On the surface, there might be a full new population of humans who live in peace with the Robots. Even more so - perhaps those humans came from the previous incarnations of Zion.
We assume that when Zion is destroyed, everybody is killed. What if instead they are brought to the surface, and Zion is started over, and they restart the cycle of bringing people out of the Matrix. This means that slowly over time more and more people are removed from the Matrix, and are first brought to Zion, and then to the surface. This is the only way to free all of the humans because there are so many, it would be logistically impossible to bring all of those humans out of their pods and into the real world at once. This process might take hundreds or even thousands of years, but time does not mean anything to the Robots, who found this to be the best solution to the problem of returning the humans to their civilization.
If you agree or see any holes in my theory, let me know by adding a comment. And if you have seen Matrix Reloaded only once, do yourself a favor and see it again.
Here's the Neo and Architect Conversation.
The Architect: "Hello, Neo."
Neo: "Who are you?"
The Architect: "I am the Architect. I created the matrix. I've been waiting for you. You have many questions, and although the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, and some of them you will not. Concordantly, while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realize it is also the most irrelevant."
Neo: "Why am I here?"
The Architect: "Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control. Which has led you, inexorably, here."
Neo: "You haven't answered my question."
The Architect: "Quite right. Interesting. That was quicker than the others."
(The responses of the other Ones appear on the monitors: "Others? What others? How many? Answer me!")
The Architect: "The matrix is older than you know. I prefer counting from the emergence of one integral anomaly to the emergence of the next, in which case this is the sixth version."
(Again, the responses of the other Ones appear on the monitors: "Five versions? Three? I've been lied too. This is bullshit.")
Neo: "There are only two possible explanations: either no one told me, or no one knows."
The Architect: "Precisely. As you are undoubtedly gathering, the anomaly's systemic, creating fluctuations in even the most simplistic equations."
(Once again, the responses of the other Ones appear on the monitors: "You can't control me! F you! I'm going to kill you! You can't make me do anything!")
Neo: "Choice. The problem is choice."
(The scene cuts to Trinity fighting an agent, and then back to the Architect's room)
The Architect: "The first matrix I designed was quite naturally perfect, it was a work of art, flawless, sublime. A triumph equaled only by its monumental failure. The inevitability of its doom is as apparent to me now as a consequence of the imperfection inherent in every human being, thus I redesigned it based on your history to more accurately reflect the varying grotesqueries of your nature. However, I was again frustrated by failure. I have since come to understand that the answer eluded me because it required a lesser mind, or perhaps a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection. Thus, the answer was stumbled upon by another, an intuitive program, initially created to investigate certain aspects of the human psyche. If I am the father of the matrix, she would undoubtedly be its mother."
Neo: "The Oracle."
The Architect: "Please." (Sarcasticly?)
The Architect: "As I was saying, she stumbled upon a solution whereby nearly 99.9% of all test subjects accepted the program, as long as they were given a choice, even if they were only aware of the choice at a near unconscious level. While this answer functioned, it was obviously fundamentally flawed, thus creating the otherwise contradictory systemic anomaly, that if left unchecked might threaten the system itself. Ergo, those that refused the program, while a minority, if unchecked, would constitute an escalating probability of disaster."
Neo: "This is about Zion."
The Architect: "You are here because Zion is about to be destroyed. Its every living inhabitant terminated, its entire existence eradicated."
Neo: "Bullshit."
(The responses of the other Ones appear on the monitors: "Bullshit!")
The Architect: "Denial is the most predictable of all human responses. But, rest assured, this will be the sixth time we have destroyed it, and we have become exceedingly efficient at it."
(Scene cuts to Trinity fighting an agent, and then back to the Architects room.)
The Architect: "The function of the One is now to return to the source, allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry, reinserting the prime program. After which you will be required to select from the matrix 23 individuals, 16 female, 7 male, to rebuild Zion. Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash killing everyone connected to the matrix, which coupled with the extermination of Zion will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race."
Neo: "You won't let it happen, you can't. You need human beings to survive."
The Architect: "There are levels of survival we are prepared to accept. However, the relevant issue is whether or not you are ready to accept the responsibility for the death of every human being in this world."
(The Architect presses a button on a pen that he is holding, and images of people from all over the matrix appear on the monitors)
The Architect: "It is interesting reading your reactions. Your five predecessors were by design based on a similar predication, a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment to the rest of your species, facilitating the function of the one. While the others experienced this in a very general way, your experience is far more specific. Vis-a-vis, love."
(Images of Trinity fighting the agent from Neo's dream appear on the monitors)
Neo: "Trinity."
The Architect: "Apropos, she entered the matrix to save your life at the cost of her own."
Neo: "No!"
The Architect: "Which brings us at last to the moment of truth, wherein the fundamental flaw is ultimately expressed, and the anomaly revealed as both beginning, and end. There are two doors. The door to your right leads to the source, and the salvation of Zion. The door to the left leads back to the matrix, to her, and to the end of your species. As you adequately put, the problem is choice. But we already know what you're going to do, don't we? Already I can see the chain reaction, the chemical precursors that signal the onset of emotion, designed specifically to overwhelm logic, and reason. An emotion that is already blinding you from the simple, and obvious truth: she is going to die, and there is nothing that you can do to stop it."
(Neo walks to the door on his left)
The Architect: "Humph. Hope, it is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness."
Neo: "If I were you, I would hope that we don't meet again."
The Architect: "We won't."
