30-Second Movie Review: The Sum of All Fears

It's no Dr. Strangelove.

Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune gave the flick two stars:

Clancy's book was based on the prescient notion that so many nuclear devices were unaccounted for (in 1991, when the book was published) that we were in clear and present danger from attacks by terrorists. The idea is even more compelling today, but this movie is like a black-tie dinner where none of the food tastes good and nothing gets exciting until the waiters start lighting firecrackers on the flaming desserts.

As a mindless action flick, the movie is wonderful. Baltimore is struck by a nuclear device, a renegade Russian airforce commander attacks and nearly sinks a US aircraft carrier, and the hero averts an all-out nuclear war by mere seconds.

Looking beneath the surface, and ignoring the deviations from the Clancy book and Hollywood timeline, Sum of All Fears is still lacking. Ben Affleck once again proves that he has no place in a dramatic action film. He's no Jack Ryan, even as portrayed by Harrison Ford. The devastation caused by a nuclear detonation is completely ignored; never is it evident that tens of thousands of people have instantly died and potentially hundreds of thousands will suffer from radiation poisoning.

The storybook ending is most insulting, with our hero and his girl enjoying a picnic near the Whitehouse as if nothing had ever happened.

If you're looking for two hours of mindless entertainment, you will not be disappointed by this movie. It is the least intellectual Clancy film to date. Otherwise, read the book.

3:36:14 PM | Comments:

GPSWorld: New Firm to Offer GPS/Bluetooth/Cellular RFIC

In related news, there have been a number of murmors about a Bluetooth GPS receiver that Transplant Computing was going to demonstrate at the PocketPC Summit. So far as I've been able to determine, the demo never happened. The device appears to be from Emtac, they have a PDF of the announcement made at the Symbian Developer Expo back in April. It's expected to be available this summer, no pricing information.

I've been looking for a new GPS to replace my Palm-only Streetfinder, and this seems like a perfect match for me. It could be permanently mounted in my car, in an out-of-sight location so that it will not be a target for thieves.

2:10:20 PM | Comments:

ZDNet's David Coursey: Bluetooth vs. WiFi -- Why it's NOT a death match

If I could only have WiFi or Bluetooth, then Bluetooth loses. But it's not an either/or thing. The two wireless protocols do different things. As more Bluetooth devices come to market, I believe most of us will eventually have some of both. Just be glad you don't have to commit to one or the other right now. [via The Bluetooth Weblog]

Interesting. My decision would go the other way, I long for devices connecting to each other wirelessly. WiFi's greater speed and range don't matter much to me, and public WiFi WAPs are rare in my area.

2:08:42 PM | Comments:

Sendo Z100 Smartphone Developer Kit

As part of the Developers Program, Sendo is working on a Developers Kit. Sendo's Developers Kit is a one-stop-shop to start development on the Sendo Z100 Multimedia SmartPhone. It includes a Sendo Z100 handset and all the necessary cables, accessories and software to allow developers to start working. It also comes with 3 free e-mail support cases (estimate at US$ 450) and a special Sendo Enhancements CD-ROM. The kit is expected to become available in Mid July at circa US$ 900. [via ActiveWin]

For those that can't wait, there is an "Early Adopter's version of the Developers Kit, which will include a Z100 Early Adopter phone to permit integration." That version of the phone doesn't have FCC approval.

1:48:27 PM | Comments:

Chris Hileman: MovableType Warning

Attention ALL MT bloggers! If you havn't [sic] heard already, there is a hacker or group of hackers out there who are getting into MT blogs. It is not a problem with MT but it IS a possible problem with installation. If you did not delete you [sic] mt-load.cgi or your mt-updrade.cgi DO IT NOW! These hackers are running these files which writes the default user back into the user database. That then allows them to access you blog and reek [sic] havoc on it. Again, make sure to delete thoses [sic] files ASAP! [via Chris Prillo]

1:39:19 PM | Comments:

Scripting News: RSS auto-discovery

A new macro and howto shows Radio users how to add a link element to weblog and category home pages, pointing to their associated RSS feeds. The equivalent feature is in progress for Manila.

This will help with Sam Ruby's Beyond Backlinks idea. If would be nice if some major web sites would support this (ie: CNET, Infoworld, etc). So many web sites offer RSS feeds but don't provide any way for an ordinary user to find them.

1:35:17 PM | Comments:

The Register: KPNQwest files for bankruptcy

Yesterday KPNQwest warned customers: "In the interest of maintaining customers’ business and network continuity, the company is advising customers that they may wish to put in place contingency plans with other providers in the event of a significant deterioration in the performance of the KPNQwest EuroRings network."

Infoworld has more coverage. A former colleague was trying hard to recruit me for one of their new German data centers... Right now I'm feeling pretty good that I didn't hop back across the pond.

1:28:12 PM | Comments:

Salon: Remembering the BBS

Back in the day, having a board with more than one phone line was huge. Two lines meant more than one person could be online at the same time. This was heavy. But it was the end of something, too: the end of that amazing solitude you felt when the busies stopped, and the carrier finally screeched through, and you knew the board was yours. [via Slashdot]

I arrived on the BBS scene late, purchasing my first modem in 1990. For a couple of years I ran a 6-line system using "Major BBS" from Galacticomm -- the software was revolutionary for it's ability to support dozens (and in theory up to 255) of modem lines on a single PC of the era. My BBS had files and games and forums, but mostly people came to chat with each other.

In 1995 went to work for Galacticomm. They had just released a new product called "Worldgroup" which added a Windows-based Client/Server GUI to the text-only Major BBS platform. Support for SMTP and Telnet was added. A Unix port was released for Sun and HP systems (Linux was barely a blip on the radar). It was a banner year, for a while revenue exceeded $1 Million per month.

Then Netscape went public. The graphical web browser made the Internet approachable to anyone. Clinton was on television talking about how the Information SuperHighway was going to make everyone's lives better. Al Gore was taking credit for inventing the Internet and ice cream.

As the Internet rose, the BBS world slowly collapsed. Some BBSes prolonged their lives for a few years by becoming ISPs, or by ditching dial-in and moving completely to the Internet, but most simply stagnated and died. Almost all of them are gone forever, a tiny few remain as pure labors of love.

1:22:53 PM | Comments:

PDABuzz: Ultima Underworld now available for Pocket PC [link]

12:24:43 PM | Comments:

PocketPCWire: New site dedicated to games for Casio BE-300.

12:06:54 PM | Comments: