I've used Stardock applications since the mid-90's when I ran OS/2. They are useful applications and I still use them. But I have to say that Start8 and ModernMix are something of a mixed bag. While their functionality is much appreciated (in fact, the next major Windows 8 update will be providing similar functionality and Windows 9 will improve upon those) both Start8 and ModernMix have caused visual glitches and irregularities and have performed inconsistently while they were installed.
You can guess by my wording that I have uninstalled them and reverted to standard Windows 8.1 functionality, but I DO miss them and am now looking forward to the Windows 8.1 SP, or whatever it will be called, that restores the start menu and enables ModernUI applications to run in windows on the desktop.
The glitches I noticed where that sometimes the Windows Key mapping was lost and the standard Windows start screen would activate, instead of Start8. Other issues were weird flickers and (very quick) window resizing in regards to ModernUI applications running in windowed mode.
Without these two apps installed everything is once again smooth and silky. No visual glitches, hesitations and of course since there is no start screen interception, it works as expected.
I do still use other Stardock/Object Desktop applications. I like Launch8 (which places a Mac OS X - like dock in the Windows start screen), Decor8, which allows me to customize the start screen background and a couple other minor applications having to do with eye candy.
Zookeeper out.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Godzilla!
Well, I went to the 7:00 PM show tonight. Took my son and we had a good time. Never new there were other Godzilla "nerds" out there... groups of people hanging out and talking about this movie and comparing it to other Godzilla movies throughout the past 60 years. It was kind of cool. I also discovered I am not the only person in North Phoenix that owns a Godzilla T-Shirt. :)
The movie was a good movie. That sounds odd, I know, but what I mean is it is a MOVIE... not a MONSTER MOVIE. Does that make more sense? It is quite the suspenseful drama and I imagine you could have almost replaced the monsters with aliens or natural disasters or something like that. That being said the monsters were cool as well. It was sort of two movies in one... and it hearkens back to the original Godzilla movie from 1954 in that the monster is a necessary part of the story but the monster is not necessarily the primary focus of the movie.
It's a movie that anyone can see I think, even people who hate sci-fi or monster movies. There was little or no foul language (I didn't catch any, but I imagine someone had to swear at some point), no sex or nudity (not that you would expect that in a Godzilla movie). In a way it was really a near tragedy sort of movie with a ton of action (even tho' not a ton of monster action), several sad scenes, confusion, hysteria...
Critics have been comparing it to different types of movies as this really cannot be compared to the Godzilla movies from the past 30 or so years, it is very different, and not at all like the last American Godzilla movie. At the end of the movie I wasn't sure how I felt about it... but I sat awhile and thought about the entire movie... sort of rewound it and played it back and felt both satisfied and dissatisfied because I had different sets of criteria in my head and it didn't fully match any of them.
I will very likely see the movie again.
But to reiterate... this is not your "typical" Godzilla movie. It is much more like the original in many ways, which in turn was also not like any of the movies that followed after it. It had very serious overtones, focused a fair amount on people and the misery going on around them, and the monsters themselves were almost oblivious to humans, except in a few instances.
One thing that DID bug me in the movie were the soldiers carrying sidearms and rifles. Seriously. The monsters can take direct hit from missiles and not even know they were hit... they can walk through sky scrapers as if they were cobwebs... pistols? :) Why carry anything at all...
The movie was a good movie. That sounds odd, I know, but what I mean is it is a MOVIE... not a MONSTER MOVIE. Does that make more sense? It is quite the suspenseful drama and I imagine you could have almost replaced the monsters with aliens or natural disasters or something like that. That being said the monsters were cool as well. It was sort of two movies in one... and it hearkens back to the original Godzilla movie from 1954 in that the monster is a necessary part of the story but the monster is not necessarily the primary focus of the movie.
It's a movie that anyone can see I think, even people who hate sci-fi or monster movies. There was little or no foul language (I didn't catch any, but I imagine someone had to swear at some point), no sex or nudity (not that you would expect that in a Godzilla movie). In a way it was really a near tragedy sort of movie with a ton of action (even tho' not a ton of monster action), several sad scenes, confusion, hysteria...
Critics have been comparing it to different types of movies as this really cannot be compared to the Godzilla movies from the past 30 or so years, it is very different, and not at all like the last American Godzilla movie. At the end of the movie I wasn't sure how I felt about it... but I sat awhile and thought about the entire movie... sort of rewound it and played it back and felt both satisfied and dissatisfied because I had different sets of criteria in my head and it didn't fully match any of them.
I will very likely see the movie again.
But to reiterate... this is not your "typical" Godzilla movie. It is much more like the original in many ways, which in turn was also not like any of the movies that followed after it. It had very serious overtones, focused a fair amount on people and the misery going on around them, and the monsters themselves were almost oblivious to humans, except in a few instances.
One thing that DID bug me in the movie were the soldiers carrying sidearms and rifles. Seriously. The monsters can take direct hit from missiles and not even know they were hit... they can walk through sky scrapers as if they were cobwebs... pistols? :) Why carry anything at all...
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