Harold Sipe's Blog, page 695

"It's a period of incredible change," says the director of "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now." "We..."

""It's a period of incredible change," says the director of "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now." "We used to think of six, seven big film companies. Every one of them is under great stress now. Probably two or three will go out of business and the others will just make certain kind of films like 'Harry Potter' — basically trying to make 'Star Wars' over and over again, because it's a business.""

- Francis Ford Coppola Sees Cinema World Falling Apart: Interview - Bloomberg.com

What would have been "Screamland 2"

Since I don't really see much movement on the comics front - thought I would post a few things from the files. Below is the opening (about half of the first issue) I had worked up for what I saw as Screamland 2 or Screamland: Downturn. Actually I had wanted the volume one title of Screamland to be Screamland: In Turnaround but as a volume two looked sketchy, especially with the publisher we were working with at the time - the subtitle got dropped. Here you go - what might have been - this wou...

"Amazon is cutting the price of its Kindle e-book reader in the U.S. and launching a version that can..."

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Amazon is cutting the price of its Kindle e-book reader in the U.S. and launching a version that can be used worldwide, the company said Wednesday.

The company lowered the U.S. price of the Kindle by $40 to $259.

"

- Amazon cuts price of Kindle in U.S. by $40 to $259 - Oct. 7, 2009 

"Once again, let me be perfectly clear," Obama...

"Once again, let me be perfectly clear," Obama continued. "Seniors, rest easy knowing that I will never, under any circumstance, sign a bill that doesn't give you the option of being murdered by my administration in a manner of your choosing. I promise you that." (via Obama: Health Care Plan Would Give Seniors Right To Choose How They Are Killed | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

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"The operating system itself features Adobe Flash support, an improved browser, and menus that are..."

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The operating system itself features Adobe Flash support, an improved browser, and menus that are easier to navigate with a finger, as opposed to a stylus. Perhaps more interesting are two new services that come along with Windows.

The first, the Windows Marketplace, is Microsoft's answer to the iPhone's App Store. It's somewhat interesting that Windows Mobile has long had more programs than the iPhone — none of which involved approval from Microsoft.

"

- Microsoft's Windows phones hit the...

Naked Emperors

I left a job involving New Media in comics this past year. I wasn't laid off, I chose to leave as the environment of the company got worse under the CEO the parent company had installed late the year before. Though the parent company seemed to have a policy in place of saying they supported New Media efforts and expanding their demographics beyond the 60 year-old plus newspaper reading set, they weren't really at all. I had spent much of the last year and half there thinking about leaving...

"But the state that was once held up as the epitome of the boundless opportunities of America has..."

"But the state that was once held up as the epitome of the boundless opportunities of America has collapsed. From its politics to its economy to its environment and way of life, California is like a patient on life support. At the start of summer the state government was so deeply in debt that it began to issue IOUs instead of wages. Its unemployment rate has soared to more than 12%, the highest figure in 70 years. Desperate to pay off a crippling budget deficit, California is slashing spendi...

"And for the first time, AT&T has scored worse than all four major U.S. wireless operators in..."

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And for the first time, AT&T has scored worse than all four major U.S. wireless operators in terms of overall customer satisfaction for smartphones. According to the survey, AT&T scored 69 out of 100 among users, and 73 among non-iPhone owners. Verizon Wireless was the most satisfying carrier with a score or 79 out of 100 among smartphone users.

Even Sprint Nextel, which has struggled to retain customers due to its poor reputation, scored better than AT&T among smartphone users. It got a 74 ...

"What we've done here is we're giving Iraq an opportunity in the long term to be a..."

""What we've done here is we're giving Iraq an opportunity in the long term to be a strategic partner of the United States"

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Odierno: May not be possible to declare victory in Iraq - CNN.com

Had we just asked I am sure they would have declined the "opporunity."

"Although Andrews McMeel's interest in coming downtown first surfaced in January, the company..."

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Although Andrews McMeel's interest in coming downtown first surfaced in January, the company did not submit its application for incentives until June. The timing coincided with the city review and left uncertainty as to how the project would be received by the new mayor and council.

City staff decided the project met enough of the guidelines established by the new policy, including retaining jobs, enhancing downtown, strengthening the economy and providing opportunities for youth. Andrews...