Spoiler alert for this review of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens". It is now 9 months after release so that should be OK for most of you.
I was disappointed by the lack of originality and the flirting with in depth themes which failed to develop. "The Force Awakens" came across as a nostalgic remake of "Star Wars: A New Hope" (1977) with a female lead character a lot like Luke Skywalker. It did not make sense to me to change the home planet from "Tattooine" to "Jakku". "Jakku" seems identical to Tattooine so why not go all the way with nostalgia and revisit Tattooine? This film revisits everything else.
Within the limits of this retelling there was some writing craft in ingeniously rebooting the story characters and elements 30 years later. It was fun to see the "Millenium Falcon" emerge from a junkyard. I began to think that it was a little implausible that a spacefaring civilisation would have so little technical advance in 30 years that an old spacecraft would be competitive with the current models. Then I remembered that our civilisation currently has only one spacecraft design for human space flight and that is "Soyuz" which is a 50 year old design.
IMO it is a good element and a rare example of emotional complexity to have the great love story of Han and Leia turn to separation, with sadness and shock that their son has become the new Darth Vader. It is unfortunate that status appears to be inherited a lot in this universe. OK so Anakin Skywalker was apparently an egalitarian new talent emerging from a poor family. Which raises a question about the female lead character who I keep thinking of as "Daisy". Error, that is the actress - pauses a moment to look it up - "Rey". Is "Rey" an upwardly mobile poor person with talent? (As I hope). Or will it be revealed that she is really the descendant of someone great thus adding Star Wars to the thousands of years of propaganda that supports privilege and status by inheritance rather than by merit.
The standout impression for me is the flirting with elements of the rise of the Nazis in the 1930s by using some elements that then go nowhere. IMO this is a lost opportunity to make a far better film as in depth and drama than what I see here. The unexplained 3-way political play in this universe looks to me like a retelling of the story of the Spanish Civil War with the "First Order" as the emerging Nazis, the "New Republic" as the Spanish Republic, the "Resistance" as the International Brigades and the planet "Tokodana" as Guernica. IMO this would have been a better film if it had done more retelling with these elements and less with the "New Hope" elements.
There is a new hope of a different kind. Currently in production is a Star Wars spinoff movie, as in a side dish to the main course, titled "Star Wars: Rogue One". From its IMO excellent trailers and some website comment this may achieve some more originality and depth. As in a "war film" with something worthwhile to say about oppression and rebellion. It may even achieve some complexity. Trailer quote - "If you continue to fight, what will you become?" Online speculation suggests that the lower status has given the director more freedom to interpret the "Star Wars" universe, although news of reshoots has given rise to speculation that "The Suits" have stepped in to remove the edginess. The biggest Star Wars drama now is to see what turns up in December. Can "Rogue One" deliver some originality and depth?
Speculation about Rogue One reshoots:
http://screenrant.com/star-wars-rogue-one-reshoots-rumors/
Rogue One trailer on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frdj1zb9sMY
Friday, September 23, 2016
Monday, June 20, 2016
Battle of the Webcasts! Elon vs Jeff. Elon wins!
A current big entertainment for Techies is the Space Race between SpaceX led by Elon Musk and Blue Origin led by Jeff Bezos. While possibly equal in terms of technology achievements, Elon's showmanship is attracting lots of attention and love. Part of that is the live webcasts of his rocket launches which have a genuine drama to them as in will the experimental landing bring joy - or groans as another crash relives the glory pioneer days of 1960. Jeff has been secretive up until now. But today Jeff gave us a first live webcast of a Blue Origin flight.
Where's the showmanship, Jeff? OK, I took it in from about 5 min before launch to the end. Not one human being appeared. The camera stayed on the rocket waiting to go while 2 unseen humans provided a commentary. Contrast this with the SpaceX webcasts hosted by enthusiastic engineers who bring it all alive, including women who are fast becoming beloved of educators everywhere as science career role models for girls. Variety of camera points of view with action cams on the rockets ready to take us into the critical moments and these are getting better with each launch. And we get clips about the rocket work the hosts and hostesses have been doing.
The audience views say something - from the most recent webcasts.
Blue Origin (19 Jun 2016) 177,728 views
SpaceX most recent (15 Jun 2016) 600,378 views
SpaceX breakthrough (08 Apr 2016) 1,561,346 views - historical landing at 27 min
Blue Origin (19 Jun 2016)
SpaceX (27 May 2016):
Where's the showmanship, Jeff? OK, I took it in from about 5 min before launch to the end. Not one human being appeared. The camera stayed on the rocket waiting to go while 2 unseen humans provided a commentary. Contrast this with the SpaceX webcasts hosted by enthusiastic engineers who bring it all alive, including women who are fast becoming beloved of educators everywhere as science career role models for girls. Variety of camera points of view with action cams on the rockets ready to take us into the critical moments and these are getting better with each launch. And we get clips about the rocket work the hosts and hostesses have been doing.
The audience views say something - from the most recent webcasts.
Blue Origin (19 Jun 2016) 177,728 views
SpaceX most recent (15 Jun 2016) 600,378 views
SpaceX breakthrough (08 Apr 2016) 1,561,346 views - historical landing at 27 min
Blue Origin (19 Jun 2016)
SpaceX (27 May 2016):
Friday, February 5, 2016
Tech Story - Project "HiTechFromLoTech" - SteamFlash Rocket Motor
Update - Project HiTechFromLoTech now has its own blog - the story continues at:
http://HiTechFromLoTech.blogspot.com
My "maker" attention was well captured by the SpaceX booster retrieve success of 21 Dec 2015. Thinks, can we on a smaller scale do exciting tech by putting ideas together in interesting ways? And what more practical activities can we come up with to get school students excited about tech? Needs a name - "Project HiTechFromLoTech".
http://HiTechFromLoTech.blogspot.com
My "maker" attention was well captured by the SpaceX booster retrieve success of 21 Dec 2015. Thinks, can we on a smaller scale do exciting tech by putting ideas together in interesting ways? And what more practical activities can we come up with to get school students excited about tech? Needs a name - "Project HiTechFromLoTech".
That train of thought quickly led to the amazing Peter
Beck.
Peter made a breakthrough by observing that batteries and electric motors have improved recently so it is now possible to simplify and advance liquid fuel rockets with electric fuel pumps.
Peter made a breakthrough by observing that batteries and electric motors have improved recently so it is now possible to simplify and advance liquid fuel rockets with electric fuel pumps.
I started gathering info about those amazingly powerful
hobby – model – aircraft etc LiPo batteries.
Thinks .. can we go further than a support system - can a powerful battery directly propel the rocket? Some calculations suggest that it MAY be possible to run a rocket directly from a LiPo battery via an Electric Flash Boiler.
Thinks .. can we go further than a support system - can a powerful battery directly propel the rocket? Some calculations suggest that it MAY be possible to run a rocket directly from a LiPo battery via an Electric Flash Boiler.
This is NOT like the fearsome “Skycycle X2” flown by Evel Knievel where the
water was kept in a high-pressure heated container.
More effective (and safer) here to carry cold (or small advantage warm) water which feeds into a small “flash” unit heating a small amount of water to steam at any one time.
More effective (and safer) here to carry cold (or small advantage warm) water which feeds into a small “flash” unit heating a small amount of water to steam at any one time.
As of today, Sat, 06 Feb 2016, I have made a trial nichrome wire heating coil and I am close to the first water boiling experiment. Watch this space! Or should that be - "Watch this .. Space!".
References and Links:
Zuppero, A. Schnitzler, G. Larson, T. (1998). Nuclear-Heated Steam Rocket Using Lunar Ice.
http://www.neofuel.com/moonicerocket/
SpaceX (2016) "The Falcon Has Landed" | Recap of Falcon 9 launch and landing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANv5UfZsvZQ
Wikipedia (2014). Steam Rocket. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_rocket
Youtube (2013). Snake River Canyon jump 1973-EVEL KNIEVEL Awesome video!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-toCdPlXd6I
Update - Project HiTechFromLoTech now has its own blog - the story continues at:
http://HiTechFromLoTech.blogspot.com
References and Links:
Zuppero, A. Schnitzler, G. Larson, T. (1998). Nuclear-Heated Steam Rocket Using Lunar Ice.
http://www.neofuel.com/moonicerocket/
SpaceX (2016) "The Falcon Has Landed" | Recap of Falcon 9 launch and landing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANv5UfZsvZQ
Wikipedia (2014). Steam Rocket. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_rocket
Youtube (2013). Snake River Canyon jump 1973-EVEL KNIEVEL Awesome video!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-toCdPlXd6I
Update - Project HiTechFromLoTech now has its own blog - the story continues at:
http://HiTechFromLoTech.blogspot.com
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Tech Story - Follow-up - SpaceX success with rocket booster recovery
Mon, 20 Dec 2015, USA date. SpaceX were successful with their experiment of flying their rocket booster back to base and soft-landing it. Video coverage: skip to 31:00 min mark for the landing.
http://www.spacex.com/webcast/
(Scroll down past the still photos for the video.)
I monitored news coverage. From here in NZ I saw reasonable coverage by the NZ Herald newspaper website and the BBC. A big disappointment was TVNZ One News which is the biggest TV broadcaster in NZ. This has a history as a semi-commercial broadcaster with public service broadcasting aims along the lines of a mini BBC. In recent years, while still government owned, it has gone more and more commercial and received a lot of criticism for dumbing down. I suggest that poor coverage of this event supports that assertion. I watched most of the 6pm broadcast news that day and next day and saw no coverage. Its website had brief coverage but only of the launch while missing the main point by failing to show or comment on the recovery.
Backstory "The Why and How of Landing Rockets" at:
http://www.spacex.com/news/2015/06/24/why-and-how-landing-rockets
http://www.spacex.com/webcast/
(Scroll down past the still photos for the video.)
I monitored news coverage. From here in NZ I saw reasonable coverage by the NZ Herald newspaper website and the BBC. A big disappointment was TVNZ One News which is the biggest TV broadcaster in NZ. This has a history as a semi-commercial broadcaster with public service broadcasting aims along the lines of a mini BBC. In recent years, while still government owned, it has gone more and more commercial and received a lot of criticism for dumbing down. I suggest that poor coverage of this event supports that assertion. I watched most of the 6pm broadcast news that day and next day and saw no coverage. Its website had brief coverage but only of the launch while missing the main point by failing to show or comment on the recovery.
Backstory "The Why and How of Landing Rockets" at:
http://www.spacex.com/news/2015/06/24/why-and-how-landing-rockets
Monday, December 21, 2015
Tech Story - SpaceX rocket launch today to attempt space travel breakthrough
http://www.spacex.com/webcast/
Major tech news story with big implications. SpaceX is launching satellites today but it is what they are going to attempt afterwards that could make history. They will try to fly the rocket booster back to base and soft-land it so they can reuse it. Rocket reuse has been an engineering challenge for at least 50 years and if today's experiment works it will be a major advance in bringing down the cost of spaceflight and opening up "the final frontier".
Backstory "The Why and How of Landing Rockets" at:
http://www.spacex.com/news/2015/06/24/why-and-how-landing-rockets
Major tech news story with big implications. SpaceX is launching satellites today but it is what they are going to attempt afterwards that could make history. They will try to fly the rocket booster back to base and soft-land it so they can reuse it. Rocket reuse has been an engineering challenge for at least 50 years and if today's experiment works it will be a major advance in bringing down the cost of spaceflight and opening up "the final frontier".
Backstory "The Why and How of Landing Rockets" at:
http://www.spacex.com/news/2015/06/24/why-and-how-landing-rockets
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Tech Story - Outlook 2010 stops sending after upgrade to Windows 10
Had problem - tried fixes - now sharing the one that worked.
The problem:
Computer upgraded from Windows 8.1 to the new Windows 10. Then Outlook 2010 email system would not send emails. Variety of error messages about network connection errors but checking other internet use - all OK. Did searches. Tried a variety of suggested fixes. Sharing the one that worked.
http://www.ajpcsolutions.com/outlook-stops-sending-mail-after-windows-10-upgrade-fix/
In brief:
Run the command prompt as an administrator. Run this command:
sfc /scannow
Thank-you "AJPC"!
The problem:
Computer upgraded from Windows 8.1 to the new Windows 10. Then Outlook 2010 email system would not send emails. Variety of error messages about network connection errors but checking other internet use - all OK. Did searches. Tried a variety of suggested fixes. Sharing the one that worked.
http://www.ajpcsolutions.com/outlook-stops-sending-mail-after-windows-10-upgrade-fix/
In brief:
Run the command prompt as an administrator. Run this command:
sfc /scannow
Thank-you "AJPC"!
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Tech Story - Sony NEX-5N crash and fix - "unable to use memory card - Format?"
Last night - good filming session on project "Brave Love".
Today - problem. Number one camera, Sony NEX-5N giving strange problems leading to a complete crash.
Fix. Change the battery.
Insight. This happened with my number 2 battery running low giving strange problems rather than useful warning messages. Number 2 battery is a low cost 3rd party pattern battery. Good service for 2 years but now this.
On changing the battery, everything came right.
Does this mean avoid 3rd party batteries? I don't think so. We just need to be aware that the "pattern" battery can give strange results when it is running low and the fix is to charge and/or change the battery.
What are these "strange problems"?
1. I tried an experiment to shoot test video with "precision digital zoom".
(Aside, I know it does not make normal logical sense to do this but this is a special case where I wanted to try out some vintage c-mount lenses on the NEX.) The video recording froze. Here was the classic case of the battery going low co-inciding with an unusual experiment so I lose a lot of time assuming that the event is connected with the unusual experiment.
2. Repeating message on-screen.
"unable to use memory card
Format?"
This message does not make sense because there is only a "no" option with no way of responding with a "yes".
This message alternated with
"re-insert memory card"
3. Dim-light dead
After some repeats of 2 above, NEX got into a state where switch the camera on, and the lcd screen lights up slightly, ie slightly lighter than the black of the off state. And nothing else. That one had me thinking battery. Change batteries and everything recovered.
This may seem like a trivial and obvious piece of knowledge, but on running the Google search "unable to use memory card - Format?", I did not find useful information so maybe it is useful to put this into the internet mix with the contribution - "low battery - charge and/or change it!".
Thought experiment! The follow-up experiment which I do not have time to do would be to run an equally aged official battery to a low level and see if it delivers the same or more graceful behaviour.
And what about that play with old c-mount lenses? With a battery change I discover that this is for stills only. Any "precision digital zoom" setting disappears when I press the video record button.
Today - problem. Number one camera, Sony NEX-5N giving strange problems leading to a complete crash.
Fix. Change the battery.
Insight. This happened with my number 2 battery running low giving strange problems rather than useful warning messages. Number 2 battery is a low cost 3rd party pattern battery. Good service for 2 years but now this.
On changing the battery, everything came right.
Does this mean avoid 3rd party batteries? I don't think so. We just need to be aware that the "pattern" battery can give strange results when it is running low and the fix is to charge and/or change the battery.
What are these "strange problems"?
1. I tried an experiment to shoot test video with "precision digital zoom".
(Aside, I know it does not make normal logical sense to do this but this is a special case where I wanted to try out some vintage c-mount lenses on the NEX.) The video recording froze. Here was the classic case of the battery going low co-inciding with an unusual experiment so I lose a lot of time assuming that the event is connected with the unusual experiment.
2. Repeating message on-screen.
"unable to use memory card
Format?"
This message does not make sense because there is only a "no" option with no way of responding with a "yes".
This message alternated with
"re-insert memory card"
3. Dim-light dead
After some repeats of 2 above, NEX got into a state where switch the camera on, and the lcd screen lights up slightly, ie slightly lighter than the black of the off state. And nothing else. That one had me thinking battery. Change batteries and everything recovered.
This may seem like a trivial and obvious piece of knowledge, but on running the Google search "unable to use memory card - Format?", I did not find useful information so maybe it is useful to put this into the internet mix with the contribution - "low battery - charge and/or change it!".
Thought experiment! The follow-up experiment which I do not have time to do would be to run an equally aged official battery to a low level and see if it delivers the same or more graceful behaviour.
And what about that play with old c-mount lenses? With a battery change I discover that this is for stills only. Any "precision digital zoom" setting disappears when I press the video record button.
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