VBasic

Monday, November 17, 2003:

From: "John Macky" [winners@dream-giveaway.com]

To: my e-mail address

Subject: You've won a Microsoft X-Box (This is not spam).

Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 03:16:59 -0800


Greetings,

This email address was entered into our November Microsoft X-Box promotional competition
by either yourself or a friend, or perhaps a family member, at www.dream-giveaway.com

This is a prize draw, you have actually won a brand new Microsoft X-Box Gaming Console!

Your package also includes these top 5 games:
- Halo
- Metal Gear Solid 2
- Max Payne
- Splinter Cell
- Panzer Dragoon Orta

You are now invited to simply login to our website and claim your prize that you have already won
There will be only 9 winners in total this month, out of thousands of emails. So do count yourself lucky!

We have provided the following web link for you, it is temporary and expires in 72 hours.
If you do not login within this time your winning shall unfortunately be returned to the prize pool.

Here is your link!
a link to some unsecured site which asks for your credit card details and PIN

On this page you will need to enter this pass code number to proceed:

five-number code

This is very important. Do not lose that number!
Put in your address, and we will send your X-Box to you.

We hope that you will enjoy your new X-Box gaming console.

Congratulations on winning,

From Microsoft and the Dream-Giveaway.com team!

In other words: DON'T FALL FOR THIS!!!
Haggis // 1:52 PM

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Monday, November 10, 2003:

Okay, so I have just seen The Matrix: Revolutions. First, I will review the film itself. Let's get right to the point: I feel that this film just about ruined the trilogy. #1 was the ultimate geek movie, of course, and #2 wasn't bad - hey, it had lots of Monica Bellucci. But this one... it begins. I almost fell asleep during the first hour or so, it was just dialogue, dialogue, dialogue. Yawn. Boring. But then, suddenly, oh boy, oh boy, here come the machines! I admit, this section was exciting, and especially the 16-year-old guy was funny, but it really felt like your average computer game. Then, the whole Agent Smith duel with the 'self-inflicted wounds' guy. I think they used just a little bit too much strobe-lights in that one. Neo turning blind was an interesting thing though, and his X-ray-like vision came out quite nicely. Mind you, I didn't think the film was horrible, it just isn't very good. The whole scene with Trinity dying is just a load of big fat... I don't know, but it was way over the top. I haven't come to see Titanic, dammit. Then, the real shit happens. Sure, the final duel with Agent Smith was, well, not bad, but really, you'd think they'd run out of ideas by now. The ending was too much a storybook ending for such a philosophical build-up. Now, with that out of the way, I can speak my mind on something I find even more... yes, let's use the word: disturbing. It seems as though not only some names, but significant chunks of the storyline are copied from the bible, and especially the gospel. The way Neo lay there when he died, how he gave his life for the entire human population, and, particularly distasteful, the Architect (or head robot, whatever) saying: "It is done." That took it beyond originality for me. I know that most epic stories since Jesus' life were at least vaguely based on that, but this is too much. Shall I go on? Okay, if you want to take it really deep, the people in Zion had had their Exodus out of the Matrix, where they were slaves of a creation of the Architect. Can anyone say Pharaoh keeping the Israelites as slaves? Am I exaggerating here? Not at all. Agent Smith is... Satan. 'No, how can you say such a thing?!' Not in everything he does, of course, but he has the world in his power. When Neo tried to get up, Smith tried to talk him out of it, tempting him, so to speak. Now read the first part of Matthew 4. It doesn't work, of course, and that's where Smith is being dealt a huge blow. Neo gives his life anyway, but in doing this, wins. Also. The Sentinels dropping when Trinity flew into the sky, reminded me vaguely of falling angels. And the whole Matrix did have an apocalyptic feel to it, in the end. Of course, then there is relief, and, lo and behold, paradise. N'est-ce pas?
Overall, I'm going to buy the DVD set, and I am probably reading too much into the story (or not). You should see the movie and comment on this, in your mind, or in the open. And that this movie sparks so much discussion inside of me, should prove that it is actually a good film, despite its many flaws. Go see it.
Haggis // 1:13 PM

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Oh boy, oh boy, Google have something new: the Deskbar. Happy, happy, joy, joy. Only it's not new. If you want something really comprehensive on your taskbar, go to Dave's Google whatchamacallit site, and download his deskbar. I guess Google realised they had to make their own deskbar, but the result can't be as comprehensive as Dave's whatchamacallit. Personally, I have nothing on my taskbar, but if you must, don't pick the official Google thing - install the other one.
Haggis // 6:26 AM

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Saturday, November 08, 2003:

Get your Concorde stuff here, while it's hot.
Haggis // 9:10 AM

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Sunday, November 02, 2003:

Once upon a time, there was a singularity, called B'ng. B'ng was surrounded only by nothingness, and felt quite alone. So, B'ng decided he should have some friends. Because he wouldn't be able to make friends with the nothingness around him, he decided not to make, but to create friends. And so, he became Big B'ng. Sadly, he died in the explosion, disintegrating into plasma. His spirit was carried on in the plasma, however, and quickly the particles (Pions, Quarks, Xeons, and other strange-named dots) made friends with each other. They decided to organise into protons. Protons were very positive communities, and the NewTron communities, shaped shortly thereafter, quickly became allies of the Protons, eventually becoming very tight living communities, known as Cores. There were some outsiders though, who didn't really fit in: the Eel-Actrons. Because of their eel-like characters, no one really liked them, and they went to live outside the Cores. Of course, there were lots of varieties in these Cores - some Protons didn't get along with each other, while others loved each other. The like-minded Core communities quickly found each other and organised into MoleyCool communities, taking the Eel-Actrons with them. After lots of fun, they decided it was time to build cool stuff, like giant balls of gas, and rocky things with fluids on, and giant rocks floating around in the blackness of their own plasma. It quickly became obvious that these new contraptions were prone to collisions, so the MoleyCools decided there should be gravity, meanwhile further organising the thing they called Universe - so united they all felt: they all spoke with a united language, or verse, that of love. After eons of puzzling, the Universe took shape, with solar systems, and later star systems being born. Most of the MoleyCool communities felt very happy with this new situation, but there were some who revolted. They became known as the 'splintered Cells', abbreviated to sCells. These sCells discovered a sphere with like-minded MoleyCools, and called it Whirled, because of the turbulent revolutions going on. This Whirled rotated around the Son of the revolution, who gave light to the Whirled. One sCell got the idea to make another sphere, rotating around the Whirled, to give light during the dark period of the day. Other sCells, green of jealousy, with all their might sped toward the Whirled, trying to destroy it. In doing so, they got crunched together into little clusters of sCells. After a few years, the Son had mercy, and let the sCells come back again, in the form of plants and trees. Then, one of the sCells in the sea wanted more. It took a Core hostage, but the ransom was never paid. Out of boredom, they got married, and effectively became one. This Cored sCell quickly developed the desire to get out of the water - it couldn't swim. The other sCells followed its example, and became creatures with fins and eyes, and mouths that go 'bloob'. Others, the weak of heart, didn't have a spine. But the original Cored sCell did, and with two sticks it found, and later four, it developed contraptions with which to walk, and even grab things. The marriage didn't work out in the end, but their children did multiply, and formed new creatures, as they called them. This system repeated, until lots of species developed out of it. Then, one tree-dwelling creature got struck by lightning, and uttered the first spoken language: 'Shreek!'. Other tree-dwellers saw this, and collected tools to prevent such accidents in the future. They learned how to shriek at different frequencies and loudnesses, and later refined these shrieks, so that a lot of words could be spoken. They also developed a system to cut the shrieks into trees with a piece of molten "I Run" MoleyCools (called thusly because of their tendency to run when confronted with fire, a discovery made by said tree-dweller). Of course, some did not get along with each other, but unlike the Protons, the HewMongs' (language wasn't very developed yet, as said, so this was their name) communities were very dependent on each other. This gave friction, and the HewMongs started beating each other over the head with tree branches. Later they used the "I Run" MoleyCools to build more effective weapons, and also found that some combinations of MoleyCools were good to eat or drink. The HewMongs developed all sorts of communities and occupations, who never really got along with each other, sadly - but colourfully.
Haggis // 12:07 PM

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