The Scene

Being the nerd that I am, I'm kind of surprised that I've never heard the term in my title before. Have you ever downloaded a movie before? Or maybe an album before it came out in stores? Don't lie now, a lot of people have done it at least once. Shamefully, I have as well. When you're young and without a car you get bored. Did you ever think about where these files come from? Apparantly there's an underground world called "the scene" from which such content is spread, and an NYU student has sought to document this experience. Of course the names and stuff aren't real because it's all fiction, but it's likely to be a realistic situation regardless. Anyway, I was always curious about how it happens and this shows you how it happens and why they do it. It's a real eye opener so if you're bored or curious then definitely take a look, especially before you judge these people.

I have a few other techie tidbits to share. Google started their own code dump, which is mainly a site for developers insterested in Google-related development. It has some cool stuff but it's above my head so I won't go into it. I've mentioned the future DVD replacements several times and now I have a really good article that concisely explains the whole battle. It's a matter that will concern us all so give it a look-see. If you've used Amazon.com and it's made suggestions to you about what to buy, you may be interested to know that it's making very educated guesses. And what's alarming is that as it gets better at these predictions that the software could figure out who you are based on what you buy and what others buy for you. A little freaky, huh? Fans of Java may be weirded out to know that it's starting to get closer to the line of open source. Sun is being very wary about it, and I think that Java is going to outlive its usefulness before such a plan would become at all advantageous. Lastly, some guy who told spammers to stop spamming him is now being sued! I don't understand what the claims are, but that's really laughable. When did spamming become acceptable all of a sudden?

The movie news tap has run a little dry today. A little Dutch birdie told me that the Ice Age 2 teaser trailer is finally online and it's what you would expect it to be. Sqrat is an awesome character creation and I hope this sequel is as fun as the original. Jennifer Aniston couldn't be going any stronger after her recent breakup and is now signed on to yet another movie. The reason it's noteworthy is because the movie, Break-up, is based on an idea of Vince Vaughn's and I love his acting style (as seen in Dodgeball). Details are scarce but I hope it's a funny movie. As you have probably already guessed, Superman Returns has finally begun filming quietly, and in the meantime another fantasy movie, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, is still in the works and is going to release a trailer soon. Keep a keen eye for the trailer next month. And finally, there's some new pre-production concept art available for Spy Hunter. I'll share my favorite:



Being an afficionado of video games I'm always happy to see good games do well. Last month was thankfully dominated by Gran Turismo 4. I hope that Devil May Cry 3 takes over the lead this month. Oh, and Half-Life 2 fans facing withdrawal symptoms may want to turn their attention to the new Timesplitters which is shaping up well, and while it won't be quite as good as Half-Life 2 it will still be a genuinely fun game.

Today's meme is the 3x Thursday:

1. Do you like St.Patrick's Day? Why/Why not?
Other than just being a day to have fun if you're over 21, not really.

2. Do you like Guinness? Why/Why not?
Sadly that's one beer I haven't tried yet. I look forward to sampling it in the near future though ;)

3. Do you believe in the superstitous thingy about having to wear green on St.Patty's Day? Why/why not?
I believe that you will get pinched if you don't wear green! Superstitions though are more just fun to do when it comes to matters like St. Patty's day and so I don't think anyone takes it seriously but abide by it out of habit.