Filed under: Lists — Malcolm Owen @ 12:41 pm
As you may know, I’m not one to go to the cinema all that often. Indeed, you might want to say that I dislike the cinema experience. And that is true for the most part. I would rather wait for the DVD to eventually get released than to go to the movies, purely because the experience doesn’t suck so much. Here’s my main 3 reasons for avoiding cinemas…
Some Staff Are Wannabe Film Critics, and They Suck
Don’t get me wrong, most of the staff that work at cinemas are A-OK. They know that they’re doing a job and they perform well. Granted, I can forgive a bit of confusion at the concession stand if it’s a new person working that bit, but I just cannot stand the guy that thinks he knows more than anyone else about films, and therefore his opinion is law. Usually it’s the guy serving or tearing the tickets, and I would expect either a good comment or no comment about what specific film I am going to see. I don’t expect to be questioned on my choice of film by the person selling the goddamned tickets to said film.
When I went to see Cloverfield, after I paid for my ticket the moron behind the counter said that he wouldn’t recommend it at all. Now, bearing in mind that (a) I’d just bought the tickets and (b) he’s employed to generally promote and sell tickets, the last thing I want is him saying I’m going to be disappointed, even when I’m telling him that I have seen some of JJ Abrams’ stuff in the past and have been heartily entertained by it. It’s very bad customer service when you are attacking your own customers. It’s even worse when you consider that this is in a city with more than just that cinema, and there’s heavy competition between them all.
Watching a Film with Other People Sucks
If I want to watch a film and it’s one that I’ve been waiting to see, the last thing I want is for the other people in the cinema to be noisy. Why do people feel the need to bring their newborn baby to a film with loud noises that will scare the kid senseless causing it to cry, scream or crap itself? What is the point of the “Turn your Phone Off” warning before the film when idiots that seem to have mentally blanked that phrase from their minds decide it’s time to talk to one of their gormless buddies as loudly as humanly possible, short of using cans and string? What failure in life decides that the best course of action is to say loudly what they think will happen (or if they have enough time on their hands that they’re willing to see a film twice in the cinema, what will be happening) when everyone else in the theatre are watching intently, thereby spoiling the story for everyone? If I’m forced into going to a cinema, I’d rather choose the latest possible showing to avoid these idiots. At least when watching films on DVD, the only person that I can possibly disturb would be myself. And I know full well I can pause it whilst I go to get another drink from the fridge.
The Food Sucks and Requires a Mortgage
Talking about refreshments, why does the food at the local movieplexodome fail to be tasty? There’s hotdogs that taste like rubber, popcorn that could easily substitute polystyrene pellets for packaging in boxes, and the noisiest sweet packaging known to man. If this was all sold cheaply, it’d be all right. But it’s not. I’m spending more on the food than I am on the already expensive ticket to get into the place, and for that price I expect quality.
It’s a shame that most cinemas forbid you from taking your own food into a screening, because I do love the idea of eating an XL Bacon Double Cheeseburger whilst enjoying senseless violence on the big screen. It’d be cheaper too. At least my couch doesn’t care.
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Filed under: Apple, Lists, Tech — Malcolm Owen @ 10:51 am
As you already know, I’m a Mac User. I am still more of a PC gamer, so I have a foot in both OS camps. The PC’s for gaming and file storage, the Mac is for my work. Perfect.
However, like many new owners of a Mac, I had to go through a learning curve, and discovered that there’s a long list of things that happen when you get a Mac.
Like this list at Utilware. 22 things that happen or you notice if you change to a Mac. And it’s quite a comprehensive list too. I’m counting all of them as “Happened to Me” except for items 2 (Haven’t seen any Mac owners), 3 (See 2), 17 (Haven’t sold it) and 20 (Haven’t returned it so don’t know)
If you are even thinking about getting an Apple device in the future, I highly suggest you read the list.
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Filed under: Lists, Tech — Malcolm Owen @ 11:14 am
I’ve been fed up with how my digital camera performs for quite a while now, so last week I decided to buy a new photographic device: the Kodak EasyShare C330. It’s got 3x Optical Zoom, 5x Digital Zoom, 4 Megapixel pictures and a tilt sensor (so the camera can tell the difference between Portrait and Landscape images).
After getting the camera, I thought there’s some information you might actually want to know concerning buying a camera, especially if you don’t know that much about the subject.
Research before buying. Get some camera magazines and check out what’s available. You might need to buy multiple magazines since there are occasions where your price range is not focused upon in that specific issue. Check the websites of manufacturers to find out the specifications. Just find out as much as you can before you go out and buy a digital camera.
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Filed under: Lists, Other, Tech — Malcolm Owen @ 9:15 pm
NASA (The American space programme) has decided to get more organised about it’s moon efforts. They’ve researched what people actually want to try and do on the Moon, and the results have been compiled into a “Master List”.
The best example from the list (NASA selected…) is to set up a radio telescope there so that they can observe more frequencies usually stopped by the Earth’s fantastic atmosphere.
Observations at these frequencies have never been made before and opening up a window into this low frequency universe will likely lead to many exciting new discoveries.
That’s definitely going to please the SETI@home people, but the rest of the human population doesn’t really care about that. I mean, my suggestions would include…
- Theme Park. On The Moon. (Obligatory Futurama Reference)
- Low Gravity X-Games. On The Moon. (Would make the Vert ramps more interesting…)
- Golf. On The Moon. (Done before, I know, but I’d rather do it properly. Like with golf buggies. And crater-sized bunkers…)
- Baywatch. On The Moon. (The slow-motion running surely would get even better)
- Moon. On The Moon. (So all of those who hate the rest of the world could show what they really think)
[Via Digg]
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Filed under: Gaming, Lists, Other — Malcolm Owen @ 9:24 pm
Gaming centers and internet cafes serve a purpose. An outpost of the internet in a real world setting. A bridge from the tubes to the high street. A way for the “too cheap to buy a computer and pay for an internet connection” to use decent computers and end up paying more over the course of a year than if they saved and bought a basic computer from a supermarket.
Indeed, the not so intelligent people are entering the places and doing stupid things that they might think is fine to do in their own home, but in a public environment where people are busy playing World of Warcraft or finding out the latest news on the iPhone. These people can upset the fellow customers and in turn make the staff do the face-to-pavement process on them.
Here’s a list of ways to join the elite group of goddamn idiots that ruin these fine businesses, just in case you had a lobotomy…
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