Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The Flashing Question Mark

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  • BenWilson,

    Joe, old Macs are beautifully retro. I love the fish tanks and such that people make out of them. They're like old Volkswagons. I never wanted one at the time, and I sure don't want one now, but I still think they look pretty cool.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Adrian Ross,

    Well, I'm glad it moved you to register to post

    Nice to be here. Hardly a graceful entrance, but I'm sure there will be more positive (and more serious) posts to come.

    but in an American context, I think "ass" is appropriate

    Aha, the deliberate Americanism. It takes on a whole new light.

    Wellington • Since Dec 2008 • 6 posts Report Reply

  • Adrian Ross,

    Oh, for heaven's sake... You're not one of those gits who writes to the Listener about the faulty (ie non British) pronunciation on National Radio, are you?

    No, but now that I know how much it annoys you I might start.

    Wellington • Since Dec 2008 • 6 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Weta Workshops should get in on that whole steampunk stylee and build PCs.

    Sadly, it's crap like The Day The Earth Stood Still (that depressing creature: a very bad film with a very good one inside struggling to get out) that pays the bills. And I'm beginning to wonder if one side effect of the Global Economic Crisis (c) is that there's going to be a lot less money sloshing around FX houses than there used to be.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    Squee! I just picked up a copy of the Michael Rennie original at the WorryWhare got $10!

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    My fingers must be drunk this morning. "for $10"

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    that depressing creature: a very bad film with a very good one inside struggling to get out) that pays the bills

    There's a list of 50 films I want to see (the list, not the bad films).

    "Movies that would have been really good if they had had a different writer/producer/director".

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    Joe, old Macs are beautifully retro. I love the fish tanks and such that people make out of them. They're like old Volkswagons. I never wanted one at the time, and I sure don't want one now, but I still think they look pretty cool.

    There was an episode of Married With Children where the son tells his bimbo sister that he's getting a computer. To which she replies "What colour?" Once the second-generation iMacs appeared the joke was lost.

    Shortly after you couldn't find a plain vanilla beige mouse at the Warehouse - they were all fruity and semi-transparent.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Beige is too recent to be retro. I still have quite a lot of useful beige equipment. Something about it just begs to be smashed up with a baseball bat, though.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • James Harton,

    Beige is too recent to be retro. I still have quite a lot of useful beige equipment. Something about it just begs to be smashed up with a baseball bat, though.

    Not true, I have a beige clickety Mac Classic keyboard and mouse connected to my Linux box with a ADB->USB converter. Deliciously retro and people in the office know I'm really concentrating when they can hear a lot of CPM (clicketies per minute).

    You know, sometimes all these buttons and scroll wheels are just too much for me.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2007 • 51 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Surely it's the Mac Classic-ness rather than the beigeness which is retro. And you can never have enough buttons and scroll wheels. I'd hate to play a 1st person shooter with a one button Mac mouse. To me that's McMouse, or even Micky Mouse. One of my Mac-using buddies was amazed that I could play World of Warcraft with one hand and eat a sandwich with the other, without any loss of function (other than the incredible loss of function involved in being a WoW addict, which I have fortunately overcome).

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • TracyMac,

    Coming a bit late to this party, I completely second the OpenDNS rec. Easy to configure, nice and granular (I think the built-in "low" setting would work for most teens), and requires no client software, so it's nice and whizzy.

    I use it for my own network, purely to block phishing and adware sites.

    Canberra, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 701 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    I'm sure there's plenty of truth in such testimonials too, PCs are a pain in the ... date ... to deal with

    [writing this on a MacBook]. You see, a big part of that is just MacLore and really isn't true. I've had Vista running on three boxes for 18 months without any problem. The networking was easy, they never crash and are happily virus free. And there some things PCs do much better like simple navigation.

    On the other hand, on a personal level, I never use a PC unless I need to go to the various sites that will only run under IE..or to game. Most games run rather better on a Microsoft platform than the Mac equivalent.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    Aha, the deliberateAmericanism. It takes on a whole new light.

    Most people who use 'Americanisms' (whatever they are) do so deliberately. It's not like the borg took over our brains and forced us to exclaim 'dude!' at regular intervals.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    It's not like the borg took over our brains and forced us to exclaim 'dude!' at regular intervals.

    Dude!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Speaking entirely for myself, I'm pretty sure I often use Americanisms (and Australianisms) unwittingly. And I'm entirely comfortable with this particular shortcoming.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    Well, yes, that's true: once something becomes part of your speech patterns you use it unwittingly. But I think you make a choice to adopt things for your own ends, at least initially.

    I think my own language patterns are a strange hodge-podge of posh NZer, kiwi-bloke-ism, American southern-isms, American-stonerisms, American hiphopisms, some Maori phrases, some French or Cajun phrases, Coronation Street-isms, and random pick-and-go. I imagine most people in NZ have a range of language influences... it's interesting. <strokes chin ponderingly>

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    What's in a nutshell why the gitness in defence of the British motherland of language gets my back up. (Besides, it's not as if there's anything approaching a pure, unadultared, "correct" and uniform language in those hallowed isles.)

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    "That's", not "what's". Doom-dee-da.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    I think for years now, my written and spoken vocabulary has been strongly influenced by internet culture.

    For instance, I routinely say "pwned" now. Which is weird.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    It's not like the borg took over our brains and forced us to exclaim 'dude!' at regular intervals.

    No, that wasn't the borg. I think we all know who that was.

    For instance, I routinely say "pwned" now. Which is weird.

    Dude, you have been SO pwned by the interwebs.

    I imagine most people in NZ have a range of language influences... it's interesting

    Indeed, and switch backwards and forwards as the occasion demands, which is one of the great beauties of language. I'm about to go down to my mother's, which will involve eliminating net-isms and upping my blokey-Westie ratio.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    Most people who use 'Americanisms' (whatever they are) do so deliberately. It's not like the borg took over our brains and forced us to exclaim 'dude!' at regular intervals.

    Or, Gordon Bennett, forced people of my generation to borrow phraseology wholesale from the likes of Minder..

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    That bugger Shakespere eh?

    Routinely used the ass/arse pronunciation pun for a laugh-

    NZ English is an obsession of mine - I now span 6 generations (and have written & recorded material that can go back 2 more.) The word hoards-the 'in' & 'out' usages- which are different from the cants & jargons and regional dialects-the wonderful ongoing interaction between Maori & English, plus the newer incomer languages...wow! Do we have a brew going here!

    Nobody except yourself enforces either word useage or pronounciation. Understanding the words is all. But I will pull any of you up (as I expect such a couth crew to pull me up)when an error occurs.

    To wit, Giovanni: assonance is actually the close repetition of similar vowel sounds (which differs from basic rhyme.)

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    To wit, Giovanni: assonance is actually the close repetition of similar vowel sounds (which differs from basic rhyme.)

    In Italian assonance applies to all sounds, not just vowels (when it's consonants sometimes we call it "assonanza consonantica", which is of course itself an assonance!).

    That said, mine was merely a quotation from Educating Rita - Tom nabbed it right away.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    "In Italian, assonance applies to all sounds"-

    in Maori, assonance isnt really used (except in proverbs possibly - 'Ka wiwi. ka wawa')-our language, like Italian, is very vowel-rich, but much less rich in constants, so vowel replication is kind of a given)

    In English, it is a huge & richly useful field for humble poet people (like self.)

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

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