I was browsing around youtube the other day, and I found this video. It is the original policy trailer that played before movies at Syufy Theatres in Las Vegas during the 80’s. Anybody who lived here during that time period is sure to remember this.
Have you ever wanted to see a graphical representation of how screwed we are as a nation? Well, I wrote an application that does just that. With a few mouse clicks, you can see for yourself how we ended up more than $10 trillion dollars in debt.
http://dev.softworksdevelopment.com/nationaldebt/
I downloaded the data from Treasury Direct, and wrote the application using Adobe Flex 2, MySQL and AMFPHP.
Netflix launched it’s “Watch Instantly” feature in January of 2007, and since that time, the service has only been available for Windows users. A player for the Mac has long been promised, but Apple’s refusal to license it’s DRM solution has prevented this from happening. In the words of Steve Novoselac:
A key issue for delivering movies online is that the studios require use of DRM (Digital Rights Management) to protect titles. And that’s our holdup for the Mac - there’s not yet a studio-sanctioned, publicly-available Mac DRM solution (Apple doesn’t license theirs). I can promise you that, when an approved solution becomes available for the Mac, we’ll be there. I’ll also say that Silverlight 1.1 looks like a promising candidate - but that its DRM isn’t likely to be fully available until 2008.
Well, it seems like our wait is FINALLY over. Netflix is allowing customers to beta test the new version of their player which works on PCs and Intel-based Macs. You are required to opt-in before using the new player, but before you do so, Netflix would like you to consider a few things:
If you have used the new beta player, please feel free to post your thoughts. I have been using it since November 1st, and I love it so far. Streaming seems much faster, playback resumes very quickly after skipping forward or backward to a different part of the movie, and IT WORKS ON MY MAC! 
Beta opt-in:
http://www.netflix.com/silverlightoptin
Read the official opt-in annoucement / report bugs:
http://blog.netflix.com/2008/10/opt-in-for-new-netflix-movie-player.html
Instant watching on Mac, Firefox and more… by Steve Novoselac:
http://blog.netflix.com/2007/08/instant-watching-on-mac-firefox-and.html
Hey guys. Well, I finally got the new iPhone G3, and I love it. It’s definitely the nicest phone I have owned, and it’s a steal at $199. In fact, I’m using it right now to post this entry with the new Wordpress app.
Well, it’s time for me to catch some z’s. Catch you guys later.
(Originally Published July 25, 2000)
American Beauty is just that, a beautiful example of American cinema. To be quite frank, I have not been this pleased with a film since seeing Pulp Fiction back in ‘94, but that is beside the point. Sam Mendes has created a movie that makes us laugh, cringe, drop our jaws, and ultimately makes us cry, all during the course of two hours.
Perhaps the best thing about this movie is that it does not focus on any one character, but instead, takes us on a yearlong journey through each of the characters’ lives. Other movies have attempted this (Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam comes to mind), but American Beauty transcends our every expectation. The mistake that these other films make is that the plot becomes scattered, and the compassion we are supposed to feel for the characters is lost. In American Beauty however, our emotions pour out to each of the major characters.
Our story begins with a man named Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) who has reached what many people refer to as a midlife crisis. He feels his life has no purpose, his marriage is non-existent, his daughter hates him and his job is unfulfilling. All he wants a way out. A way to recapture his youth. In a way, everyone in this film is yearning for something. Next we have his wife Carolyn (Annette Benning). Carolyn is a woman who has become so engulfed in her work that it has taken over every aspect of her life. “You must project an image of success” becomes her motto, and spills over into her home life. Lester at one point mentions that her shears matching her shoes is no accident, and that she had not always been like that.
These two are not the only people looking for something more. Enter Jane (Thora Birch), Lester and Carolyn’s daughter. She is a young woman plagued by teenage self-esteem problems, who feels she is as ordinary as they come. As her friend Angela (Mina Suvari) tells her, “There’s nothing worse than being ordinary.” There are many other characters in this film, whose stories I will leave you to discover, that have equally compelling stories. One of these is sure to relate to you in one way or another. You may even find their methods of satisfying their needs familiar to your life (I hope not all of them though). That is what makes American Beauty so powerful.
When you do see this movie, if you haven’t already, be sure to watch for symbolism throughout. Perhaps the best example is near the end of the film. There is a moment of realization for Lester Burnham, where everything seems right, but the outcome exemplifies how many things end in life. There is also one line that Lester speaks that captures all of life with a few words. You have no idea what I am talking about now, but think about this again after you see the it. Just look beyond the actual events, and hopefully you will see the underlying meanings therein.
Overall, this is an excellent film that I recommend everyone see at least twice. I have seen it twice, and I still feel the need to view it again. The full essence of this beautiful American film can not be appreciated with a single viewing.