Mike's List
What Isn't The Matrix?

I SAW THE MATRIX: RELOADED Wednesday night. After having seen the movie and read the very mixed reviews, I was at first confused about the negative opinions. This is a really great movie.

In scanning the reviews, I've discovered that the film is something of a Rorschach test -- it's seen as different movies by different people.

For romantics, it's a love story about the triumph of human connection over all. Neo and Trinity gaze into each other's eyes. They mate like bunnies. Their love is tested in myriad ways during the film.

For the spiritually inclined, it's about religion. Neo emerges as a cross between Buddha and Batman. Morpheus constantly spouts all manner of vague, quasi-religious mumbo jumbo. Awed, starry eyed acolytes follow Neo around with religious offerings to lay at his feet. Neo performs miracles.

Those with a philosophical bent will see The Matrix: Reloaded as a movie about ethics -- the ol' free-will-versus-predetermination question -- with a heavy emphasis on the importance of individual choice.

Bloodthirsty cinema-goers will view the movie as an action flick. The Matrix: Reloaded has more kicks, punches, head-butts, flying combat gymnastics and gunplay that any other three movies combined.

Those who walk out of the movie thinking they just saw a love story, religious movie, ethical film or action flick will be disappointed. OK, the action people won't be disappointed. It's a first rate, shoot-em-up guy movie by any measure.

Anyone who sees the movie for what it really is will love it.

The Matrix: Reloaded is not primarily about love, religion, ethics or violence (although these are supporting themes), but rather -- wait for it! -- software!

It's about programming and code. It's about software design and hacking. And it's about the unintended consequences of self-replicating software. It's about the challenges of perfecting a total-immersion world-simulation environment for people who don't even know they're playing the Mother of All Multi-User Online Games.

And, yes, the software concepts addressed and depictions of hacking are surprisingly convincing.

Critics who don't understand software won't understand -- and may not like -- Reloaded. I've actually heard, for example, some refer to the bad guys as "robots" as if they don't understand the difference between a robot and a software agent.

(And speaking of software, the computer-generated graphics in the movie break new ground for realism and technique -- the special effects alone are worth the price of admission.)

Critics attacked the first movie when it first came out as absurd sophomoric philosophy dumped into a karate flick. Now that four years have past, the old movie is suddenly respectable. Many critics are saying that the new movie is shallow, making insufficient references to philosophy, the plight of real humans and, well, just isn't as deep as the first. Please. It's just a movie.

I saw the The Matrix: Reloaded here in Silicon Valley in a theatre packed with engineers, programmers, hackers, dot-com entrepreneurs and others who really understand software. They loved it. So did I.

But that's just my opinion. What's yours? Send your movie review to: [email protected].

Bad Robots

Just because it's possible to build a robot from an old hard disk drive, doesn't mean you should. (Using two drives, you can even give your bad robot wheels!)

Moving Mountains at Microsoft

A new book by William Poundstone called "How Would You Move Mount Fuji?: Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle - How the World's Smartest Company Selects the Most Creative Thinkers" is packed with anecdotes about the notoriously wacky interview questions for prospective employees used by the Redmond, Wash., based software giant. Examples: "What does all the ice in a hockey rink weigh?" Or "How many piano tuners are there in the world?" Here's my question: "Why would anyone want to work at Microsoft?"

Don't Try This At Home

No car is complete without a Linux-based Xbox mounted on the dash. J. P. Snowdon shows off pictures on his web site of his custom mobile game platform. Games are controlled via a wireless Logitech Wingman game pad and powered with a 300w 12v-240v inverter connected directly to the car's battery.

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Proof You Can Buy Anything on the Web

Don't believe me? How about a Minuteman ballistic nuclear missile transporter trailer?

Mike's List on the Radio

Craig Crossman's Computer America features Mike Elgan every Thursday night. The show runs from 7pm to 9pm SVT (Silicon Valley Time). Listen to Computer America on your local Business TalkRadio station or over the Internet every weeknight. Don't miss Computer America!

Found Video

How much air traffic is there on a typical day in the United States? This QuickTime simulation will give you an idea. You may never fly again. The video.

Reader Web Site o' the Week

Mike's List reader Phil B. has set a goal to complete one million pushups. At his current rate, he estimates that he'll reach that goal by December 5, 2017. He tracks his progress on his web site www.MillionPushUps.com. Good luck, Phil!

Get YOUR web site on the high-traffic Mike's List Reader Links page. HERE'S HOW!

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Wacky Web Sites

The Protozoo Mutant Digital Toy web site lets you mix and match facial features to create some really ugly people.

If you like tiny cars, take a little drive to the Micro Car Museum.

Some people are alarmed at the introduction of colors other than green on the new greenback. But you cash conservatives should know that American money has gone through some alarming transitions in its long history, as The Currency Gallery shows.

As the A Naughty Bunny web site proves, computers and rabbits just don't mix.

Twisted Games

Smashing

Rapid Motion

Wonder

Multiplayer Bowling

Duck N Dive

Reader Comment

Mike,

Sorry but I cannot disagree more strongly with your analogy that apathy equals near perfection and true usefulness ("The Apathy Index," Issue 62, May 10). That would suggest Windows 3.1 = near perfection and true usefulness. I don't think so.

You wrote that "Nobody cares about browsers -- browsers have 'arrived.'" Really which browser domain do you live in? The technology is developing so fast that even a light surfing session required the download of some upgrade along the way. And upgrades still consist of user intervention to "permit" the upgrade - which usually takes you to some obscure page that put you off the whole idea of seeing whatever it was you needed the upgrade for. And please don't consider such features as SVG if you are still on dial-up (this small upgrade may take hours).

I think that Apathy is much wider spread. We accept that if we find a defect in a product that no-one really cares. We know the only fixes are those that impact; desktop management, installation, and productivity within major organizations like the US-MOD. The software vendors on large scale off-the-shelf products already "do not care about the individual user," so it is quite understandable that we become Apathetic about the products.

Paul Denize, New Zealand

_______

Mike,

Nice article today on the Apathy Index. It reminded me of the "Hype Cycle," which was a Word Spy post about a year and a half ago.

All the best.

Paul McFedries, http://www.mcfedries.com

_______

Mike,

You're much too generous when you described the Commodore SX-64 as having 64K of memory ("Don't Try This At Home," Issue 62, May 10). Of the 64K, just over 39K was used for the operating system kernel, actually only leaving 24+K for your programs. I still have my SX-64!

Rick Collins

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Big Number o' the Week

130 (The number of people charged in recent U.S. Department of Justice crackdown "Operation E-Con" targeting internet crimes, including identity theft and fraud. )

Geek Trivia o' the Week

Who coined the term, "nerd"?

Know the answer? Send it to [email protected] (be sure to say where you live). If you're first with the right answer, I'll print your name in the next issue of Mike's List!

LAST WEEK'S GEEK TRIVIA ANSWER: Last week I wrote: "Spammers send more junk mail on one day of the week than the others. Which day is the biggest day for spam?" According to recent research conducted by the British ISP BT Openworld and antivirus company Brightmail, the biggest day for spam is Thursday. Congratulations to Dave Wells in Tempe, Arizona, for being first with the right answer!

Mystery Pic o' the Week

What is it? Send YOUR guess to [email protected] (be sure to say where you live). If you're first with the right answer, I'll print your name in the next issue of Mike's List!

LAST WEEK'S MYSTERY PIC: No, it's not a "crystal ball with a piece of paper taped to the back of it," a "Japanese girl," or even an "eye exam machine for gypsies" as suggested by some readers. In fact, it's a prototype of Hitachi's crystal ball monitor. The clear acrylic ball sits on top of a special PC, which projects the display image into the sphere. You use the device by holding the crystal ball in your hands and breathing on it. The company hopes to sell the display within three years, according to company officials. Congratulations to Koo Chee Keong of Singapore for being first with the right answer.

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