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Geek Culture / you bunch of techno weenys!

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Phaelax
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Posted: 25th Sep 2006 23:05
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For those that don't read slashdot, thought I'd point this article out about the top 10 worst technology portrayals in movies.

http://www.gideontech.com/content/articles/326/1

I don't care what anyone says, Hackers is the best film of all time! (as long as you dont take it seriously)

"Using Unix is the computing equivalent of listening only to music by David Cassidy" - Rob Pike
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 25th Sep 2006 23:17
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I bet that site was made by comic book guy, I say who gives a damn if movie doesn't portray technology 100%, its there for effect, this guy is hacking in the movie, that bit is important to the storyline, looks realistic, so why the pickyness? Bah I guess that mega-nerds for ye

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Matt Rock
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Posted: 25th Sep 2006 23:28
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Citizen Kane had far better representations of computer technology. I for one use "Rosebud" as my password, not "god." CRAP! Now I need to change my password again


"In an interstellar burst, I'm back to save the universe"
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Megaton Cat
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Posted: 25th Sep 2006 23:45
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Citizen Kane was on the edge of modern technology. Even gadget-wise kids today can't figure it out.

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PowerSoft
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Posted: 25th Sep 2006 23:48
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Hackers with Angie Jolie?


Good feel, good stuff.

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Robin
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Posted: 25th Sep 2006 23:52
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I remember watching Firewall and cringing when he set up that contraption with the ipod mini lol.

And I hate it when people can guess passwords after a few tries.


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Dazzag
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 00:28
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Hackers? God how we laughed our t**s off at the cinema when that came out Only plus points were Jolie and the fact that it reminded us of that awful teen series when we were kids.

IMHO the best tech film was Sneakers. True it had a lot of stretchable stuff, but the bit where they got passwords by getting a job as a cleaner and copying down information from PostIts on programmers cubicle walls was spot on. Absolute genius. If I was a bit of a crim then going round my company would net a few million if you read all the PostIts.

Oh, and I always thought Independence day was the worst. I mean c'mon, he writes a virus for an alien (literally) operating system in a day or so after the spacecraft had been there ages being checked out by top techs. Then when time is essential and they are uploading the virus, it turns out he inserted a little skull animation (with sound!). Probably about 99% of the file to include that little avi.... And thats not even mentioning when he works out how much time is left before the weapon fires and time is (again) essential then he obviously coded a brilliant animated GUI for it before showing it to the president. God what a really terrible terrible film. Although just for pure action, and as long as you avoid the terrible tech bits, general stupid bits (punches alien race in head that he *never* seen before, then turns his back to it and lights up a cigar without even checking if he knocked it unconcious), and extreme boring patriotic nonsense, then wasn't too bad. Just wanted it to be so much better, for so long too. BTW read Footfall for a much better story.

Cheers

I am 99% probably lying in bed right now... so don't blame me for crappy typing
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Agent Dink
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 01:49
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Yeah, I hate when they make technology corny. If you have ever seen National Treasure, watch it again, and pay attention to the stupid noises their computers make. Especially when Nick Cage is using Photoshop while creating his false ID. Then they always have these programs with these slick GUI's that really look like a mainstream consumer's program... while they are hacking the password to get into the White House restricted areas...

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Jeku
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 02:19
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Quote: "looks realistic, so why the pickyness?"


Because it DOESN'T look realistic in the slightest sense.

Dazzag, you stole my tech crap movie with ID That should have been on the list, if not #1!


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jinzai
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 06:18
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How about the Terminator? The 6502 machine code listing selected the response to the knock on his door. Then in the second one, the kid uses an Atari800XL and a ribboncable connected to a mag card reader to hack atm pins. There are alot of them in that series.

Could someone please tell me why every genius engineer in StarFleet solved everything by rerouting some stupid coupling, or changing a frequency on some weapon or sensor? Man, you'd think they have already figured some of that out in drydock!
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Matt Rock
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 07:31
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See, Meg gets it. He understands the technological marvel behind Citizen Kane. Most brilliant movie about computers of all time. It goes over the heads of most people.


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rock candy
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 07:53
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Quote: "How about the Terminator?"


Quote: "The movie can not be science fiction based"


correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Terminator SCIFI?

I have come upon you!!!
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Steve J
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 07:54
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I think they should make a GOOD movie out of "The Gods Themselves" by Isaac Asimov. Amazing story. It all made sense when you knew what it was about.

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Steve J, less, and less Controversial!
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Richard Davey
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 12:00
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Quote: "Then in the second one, the kid uses an Atari800XL and a ribboncable connected to a mag card reader to hack atm pins"


ROTFL at the thought of someone carrying to an ATM an Atari 800XL, the required power block, a TV to view the output oh and your own power station in order to actually give it some juice

He actually used an Atari Portfolio.

Now, what was that we were we saying about mega-geeks?

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indi
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 15:49
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In hackers when he breaks into the television studio the phone isnt even plugged into the acoustic coupler, that cracks me up

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Luke314pi
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 17:50
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The greatest use of technology in a movie is Electric Dreams from 1984, where after spilling a bottle of champagne on a keyboard, the computer comes alive and falls in love. It includes such technical wonders as having your computer control your coffee maker, blender, and toothbrush.

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Fallout
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 18:06 Edited at: 26th Sep 2006 18:07
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Personally, I think that whole article is crap. Half of the writers points are themselves missing the point. And who cares? Sinse when were any of those films based in reality? Jurrasic Park? Bringing dinosaurs back to life?? This article is about bad portrayals of technology, so apparently it's totally believable to bring dinosaurs back to life, but not for a kid to know about unix and to have a 3D file system/admin system. I would imagine it'd be bespoke for a dinosaur revival amusement park. And to diss a classic like wargames because the hacker is talking to a computer in plain english style text ..... did the guy forget that the wargames computer is a complex AI operating system that was designed to be communicated with in plain English text (similar to these internet chat bots we mess about with online)?

No, it's not so much the technology in films that's laughable, it's the author GideonX. What a plank.


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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 18:47
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Quote: "Because it DOESN'T look realistic in the slightest "


Its realistic enough for what they are doing, apart from for nerdy dweebs that like to pick every single error, yes its okay to point out that in Alexander the characters have Irish/Scottish accents when in reality they're Greek and a greek accent is very differant, but to point out, 'well actually hacking isn't done like that...'

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Benjamin
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 18:58
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Quote: "Personally, I think that whole article is crap."

As do I. I would state my reasons for thinking this but I can't be bothered and you covered one of them anyway.

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Jeku
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 22:34
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No, it's not that we're picking out that "hacking isn't done like that". It's the fact that computers in movies always have silly interfaces where everything spins around in 3D, zooming around. And everything beeps when selected, etc. Even shows like 24 are laughable in that sense.

So it's not being nit-picky in the slightest. Much of it is so broadly lame that anyone who has touched a computer would know how ridiculous it is.


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Fallout
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 22:56
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Could you imagine how little tension there would be though if, in Jurrasic Park, when that girl is trying to lock the doors to the room when they're about to get munched by Velociraptors, she goes to the Start button in windows, navigates to programs and "Door Control Wizard" clicks go, and then pulls down a drop down box which says "lock all doors", resulting in a pop up window going "All doors locked. Click OK to continue"??

I think hollywood has a duty to turn the mundane computer interface into something totally crazy that relates to the scenarios they're being used in .... even if it is unrealistic. Kinda in the same way Arny would never have been Arny if he couldn't take 3 magazines to the face without dying.


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Matt Rock
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 23:01
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I absolutley love it when tv shows, movies, and commercials have a couple of guys sitting around playing a PS2 or Gamecube game and you hear the bleeps and bloops of the Atari generation in the background, as if games haven't come along since then. It's even better when you see the game they're playing, and you know that game and even that particular scene, and they're hammering away at the shoulder buttons as if that would do something

Matt Groening is one of the worst I've seen. In Futurama and the Simpsons he almost always depicts modern games as being of NES graphical capability. Like the episode of Futurama where Fry asks what the world would be like if it were a video game, and everything was boxy and Atari-ish


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Jeku
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 23:05
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Yah, that reminds me of Rumble in the Bronx where the little Chinese kid was playing a Game Gear with no game cartridge in the slot. Classic


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Matt Rock
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Posted: 26th Sep 2006 23:09
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LOL I caught that too, I didn't notice it until last summer when my girlfriend got me the DVD as a gift. Hilarious. I thought Jackie Chan played/ plays video games, according to an interview I saw with him, and I also thought (or at least assumed) that he had a major role in the production of his films... how on earth did he not catch that?


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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 27th Sep 2006 01:04
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Quote: "No, it's not that we're picking out that "hacking isn't done like that". It's the fact that computers in movies always have silly interfaces where everything spins around in 3D, zooming around. And everything beeps when selected, etc. Even shows like 24 are laughable in that sense.

So it's not being nit-picky in the slightest. Much of it is so broadly lame that anyone who has touched a computer would know how ridiculous it is."


Alright, fair nuff, I'm not bothered by how their OS's look funny compare to real ones, but I'm sure theres a reason for it, as so many do it, heck you don't see much of windows or Mac OS being in comparrison (well at least in what I watch) Although some members of CTU have their own Power-books

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Agent Dink
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Posted: 27th Sep 2006 01:45
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Quote: "Could you imagine how little tension there would be though if, in Jurrasic Park, when that girl is trying to lock the doors to the room when they're about to get munched by Velociraptors, she goes to the Start button in windows, navigates to programs and "Door Control Wizard" clicks go, and then pulls down a drop down box which says "lock all doors", resulting in a pop up window going "All doors locked. Click OK to continue"?? "



No, that would be stupid too, but they should have made her hack into code banks or something with complex commands, like she's overriding security features and stuff. You know classic blue screen with white text. Not some corny 2fps 3d scene with pink cubes to open files

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Phaelax
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Posted: 27th Sep 2006 02:46
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did someone just nit-pick at Futurama? a cartoon? on adult-swim no less.

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adr
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Posted: 27th Sep 2006 14:30
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Woah woah woah. Hold up people.

There's a techie film which features Angelina Jolie? Why was I not informed of this?!

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Fallout
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Posted: 27th Sep 2006 14:33 Edited at: 27th Sep 2006 14:34
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We all thought you were gay.




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Richard Davey
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Posted: 27th Sep 2006 15:09
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Quote: "There's a techie film which features Angelina Jolie?"


I'd hardly call 'Hackers' techie, but sure it features a very young Miss Jolie, and unless I'm mistaken you get to see her baps too

For me Hackers is one of those secret delights. I know full well it's all crap, I know the plot is stupid, the acting passable and the actual 'hacking' is a joke - but damn, it's a fun film! Back when released it had a kicking soundtrack and a great sense of style. Even today I'll watch it for fun.

And let's face it - who the hell would want to watch a REAL hacker at work? Some pasty faced kid spending weeks infront of a monitor, brute forcing their way into some secure system, flinging a few Unix commands around. I'd die of boredom. Reading about how they did it (in a very condensed version!) after the event is cool, but actually watching it... *yawn* wake me up when it's over.

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Phaelax
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Posted: 27th Sep 2006 19:22
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Hackers has the best cast ever! You got Shaggy from scoobie doo, Sick boy from trainspotting, and lara croft! Who woulda thought I'd enjoy a movie with those people brought together?

So what's the most accurate portrayal of technology?
Minority Report is said to hold a realistic look of the future, with the self-targeted advert billboards and what-not.

"Using Unix is the computing equivalent of listening only to music by David Cassidy" - Rob Pike
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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 27th Sep 2006 19:34
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And reading irises perfectly from miles away...


Since the other one was scaring you guys so much...
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Jeku
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Posted: 27th Sep 2006 21:12
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And don't forget you get to see Mr. Jennifer Lopez in Hackers as well--- who knew he was an actor?


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Hobgoblin Lord
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Posted: 28th Sep 2006 00:17
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Quote: "Could you imagine how little tension there would be though if, in Jurrasic Park, when that girl is trying to lock the doors to the room when they're about to get munched by Velociraptors, she goes to the Start button in windows, navigates to programs and "Door Control Wizard" clicks go, and then pulls down a drop down box which says "lock all doors", resulting in a pop up window going "All doors locked. Click OK to continue"?? "


Ah but at the time it was made the tension would be "Will she get the blue screen of death?"

I liked hackers, except for half of the clothes looking like they were from Michael Jackson's wardrobe.

Wasn't Hackers the first moviwe with a website and it got hacked to death within hours of being posted.

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Alquerian
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Posted: 28th Sep 2006 20:47
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I sort of consider all of the films on the list to be sci-fi. If you think about it, they are about science in some form or another and they are for the most part fictionally based. Sure they stole pieces of real-world events in small ways but all in all they are fiction.

This being the case I would hope to see Johnny Mnemonic up there on the charts as well, with having mad-hacking dolphins (or orcas?) hacking his way through a 3d holographic encryption program inside a a double-spaced/compressed Bill and Ted's egg-battered brain. This movie is also based 15 years in the future... 80 gigs!! holy cow! I don't think my brain can handle it. Also those nintendo powergloves that he was using to navigate were pretty slick.

One note about Hackers, I absolutely LOVED how 'E=MC2' floated passed the screen with other math formulae when they 'hacked' the system. Great stuff

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle
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geecee3
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Posted: 1st Oct 2006 18:43
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persoanlly i thought swordfish was a good hacking movie that was almost believable at times.

but as a general rule of thumb computers and hacking in the movies has always been a bit over the top and unrealistic, considering most hackers will spend a great deal of time pondering their assault, instead of whacking a few keys on some custom GUI that looks like something out of uplink the game.

incidently that game is 10X better and more realistic than any hacking or computer movie you care to mention, apart from the GUI of course.

on the subject of atari 800XL's in movies, the only movie i ever remember seeing an 800XL was in D.A.R.Y.L. where the youth (robot in question pwned pole position on his first go, and the 'girl' who owned the micro said, he could have written the game for all i know) sheesh, extreme geekdom or what. lol.

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Phaelax
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Posted: 2nd Oct 2006 10:21
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Quote: "Wasn't Hackers the first moviwe with a website and it got hacked to death within hours of being posted."

Don't know if it was the first, but I think I also remember it being hacked.

I loved Swordfish. Although, you can tell that Hugh Jackman has obviously never touched a keyboard before.

Quote: "instead of whacking a few keys on some custom GUI "

I don't know about that. Before the days of P2P, most keyg...err ummm...software I've come across on warez...i mean websites had some rather unique GUIs.


Here's a few movies that might be worth mentioning:

- The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (electrocuted by a computer, remembers anything he reads)
- Real Genius (space microwave laser fries lots of popcorn)

There was an 80's movie about a guy who built a robot son (but looks real) but I can't remember the name of it.

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Jeku
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Posted: 2nd Oct 2006 10:32
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Wasn't that D.A.R.Y.L.?


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Richard Davey
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Posted: 2nd Oct 2006 14:02
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Quote: "Wasn't that D.A.R.Y.L.?"


Yeah I remember that film - the best part of it was the kid playing on a Vic-20 (or it might have been a C64) and he was so fast at the game he fried the TV

I also really liked The Last Starfighter, which while not really a 'hacking' movie in any sense, did feature a cool arcade game and neat CGI sequences for the time.

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geecee3
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Posted: 2nd Oct 2006 16:09
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do a web google search on 'DARYL atari 800XL'

I distinctly remember the cart slot and the silver buttons down the right hand side. there are a mass of references to it on the webz0r.

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