Subzero Blue

Homer’s “Iliad” now in messenger speak

Homer’s ancient Greek poem “The Iliad,” the basis for Hollywood blockbuster “Troy” has been compressed for a new generation too lazy to see the film let alone read the 24-book epic that runs to over 15,000 lines.

The first five books of the centuries-old tale, set in the final year of the Trojan War — which began when Trojan Paris snatched Helen (the face that launched a thousand ships) from Greece — are now available in the language people use when sending instant messages, Microsoft said on Monday.

Book Two is reduced to just 24 words of ‘messenger speak’, losing some of the lyricism of the original. “Agamemnon hd a dream: Troy not defended. Ordered attack! But Trojans knew they were coming n were prepared. Achilles sat sulking in his tent.”

The translation, designed to publicize Microsoft’s messenger product, is not written in Homer’s dactylic hexameters but it does use ’emoticons’ — little faces or images — to emphasize intense moments.

[Source: Reuters]

Good one guys. Now maybe those msn messenger chat addicts can squeeze in some literature in between their long useless chats.
No offense to chat addicts, I once was one, and I know the joys of chatting.
Check out the post about my vampire days. I used to spend all night long chatting on mIRC.

John Kerry Google-Bombed Waffles

So, after it happened to George W. Bush a while back, it’s the turn for Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry to be Google-bombed.

An effort by some conservative bloggers has pushed the candidate’s campaign website to the top of the result list when the word “waffles” is typed into Google.

But Kerry’s campaign is smarter than Bush’s and they’re trying to capitalize on the prank.

The campaign has purchased Google AdWords, sponsored links that come up beside results when certain words are searched. The short links also refer to Kerry’s website, but suggest users “read about President Bush’s Waffles.”

Google-bombing has fast become a popular prank on the Web. Bloggers have found they can manipulate search results by hyperlinking unsavory labels to individual pages. The trick also works on Yahoo, Lycos and AltaVista.

I think this is really cool and interesting. And if the prank gets to the stage where it works, it actually shows how many people think that way and should send a clear signal to whoever the prank is targeted at.

Movies I’ve Seen Recently

People who have known this blog ever since it’s beginnings might have realized that I write a lot less about movies than I used to.

That’s basically because I see less movies now than I used to last year.
Last year, we were addicted to movies, we’d watch 2 to 3 movies a day, and believe me, I’m not overdoing it.

Anyway, ever since we bought a receiver and have access to satellite channels, we’ve been renting less movies and watching more shows and news.

But still being a cinema fanatic, I have to watch a minimum number of movies every week 😛

Among the movies that I saw lately, that are worth mentioning, are the following:

– Something’s Gotta Give: This is a really nice movie. Jack Nicholson as always is great and his sense of humour is so cool. Diane Keaton rocks and is amazing.
It’s a nice love story with a good dose of comedy in it. I really enjoyed it.

– Mona Lise Smile: This is a nice movie, but then again it has Julia Roberts in it. How could it be otherwise?
It’s a nice story, set in the 50s, about women in society and how they should not see their roles just as homewives taking care of their husbands, but should try to go on with their lives and their careers.

– Duplex: This is a really fun comedy. Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore did a great job on this.
It’s so funny and really reminds me of us and our upstairs neighbours, lol.
It’s a Danny Devito movie, so thumbs up to him.

– The Core: Well, I heard a lot of bad remarks about this movie before seeing it, but I actually didn’t find it that bad.
It’s not the best sci fi movie and it defies a lot of scientific laws, I agree. But it’s a good enough movie. Who cares if it’s scientifically correct or not, it’s fiction.
Of course what they did is impossible but well who cares.
It’s the same genre as Armageddon and Deep Impact. Impossible, unreal, and simply fiction.

I’ll just stop here for now…

I was at the DVD store yesterday and there are a bunch of new movies I haven’t seen yet. God, do I have a lot of catching up to do. I love it 😉

Bush administration lightbulb joke

How many members of the Bush Administration are needed to replace a lightbulb?

The Answer is SEVEN:

one to deny that a lightbulb needs to be replaced
one to attack and question the patriotism of anyone who has questions about the lightbulb,
one to blame the previous administration for the need of a new lightbulb,
one to arrange the invasion of a country rumored to have a secret stockpile of lightbulbs,
one to get together with Vice President Cheney and figure out how to pay Halliburton Industries one million dollars for a lightbulb,
one to arrange a photo-op session showing Bush changing the lightbulb while dressed in a flight suit and wrapped in an American flag,
and finally one to explain to Bush the difference between screwing a lightbulb and screwing the country.

Hilarious, lol…

[Via eclecticism]

Rumsfeld bans camera phones

Mobile phones fitted with digital cameras have been banned in US army installations in Iraq on orders from Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, The Business newspaper reported today.

Quoting a Pentagon source, the paper said the US Defence Department believes that some of the damning photos of US soldiers abusing Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad were taken with camera phones.

“Digital cameras, camcorders and cellphones with cameras have been prohibited in military compounds in Iraq,” it said, adding that a “total ban throughout the US military” is in the works.

Disturbing new photos of Iraqi prisoner abuse, which the US government had reportedly tried to keep hidden, were published on Friday in the Washington Post newspaper.

The photos emerged along with details of testimony from inmates at Abu Ghraib who said they were sexually molested by female soldiers, beaten, sodomised and forced to eat food from toilets.

[Source: SMH]

If you can’t (or don’t want to) stop the people abusing prisoners, you can always stop the people taking the pictures!

Fahrenheit 9/11 wins Palme d’Or

U.S. filmmaker Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11,” a scathing indictment of White House actions after the September 11 attacks, won the top prize Saturday at the Cannes Film Festival.

With Moore’s customary blend of humor and horror, “Fahrenheit 9/11” accuses the Bush camp of stealing the 2000 election, overlooking terrorism warnings before September 11 and fanning fears of more attacks to secure Americans’ support for the Iraq war.

Michael Moore said :

“I can’t begin to express my appreciation and my gratitude to the jury, the Festival, to Gilles Jacob, Thierry Fr

Arabian Music Awards

Last weekend, the first Arabian Music Awards were held in Dubai, and from what I read online, they were one big technical disaster, with loads of problems kicking in.

Anyway, today Future TV aired an edited version of the awards show, and here are the main awards and their winners:

– Best Male Singer: Amr Diab
– Best Female Singer: Nawal Zoghbi
– Best New Male Singer: Ewan
– Best New Female Singer: Carol Samaha
– Best Arab video clip: Elissa (Agmal Ihsas)
– Best Modern Act: MTM
– Best Dance Act: Guy Manoukian
– Best Duet: Kathem El Saher & Sarah Brightman
– Best Live Performer: Assi Hallani

Also invited to perform at the show were: Sarah Brightman, Outlandish and Michael Learns to Rock.

It shows it was heavily edited but still some technical problems came through.
Anyway, it’s a good idea and hopefully next year it won’t be as bad.

Over the past year or so, I’ve been developing more and more interest in Arabic music as it’s being modernized and is more to my liking now.

Quote of the day

“Look, if Americans can be convinced that the President of the United States is even barely literate, they can be convinced of anything. You know, the fact that every American isn

Anti-Iraq war US soldier jailed

A US army sergeant who refuses to return to Iraq because, he says, the war is illegal has been convicted of desertion by a court martial.

Camilo Mejia, 28, born in Nicaragua and raised in Miami, was given a bad conduct discharge and sentenced to a year in jail on Friday.

He was convicted by a special court martial at Fort Stewart army base near Savannah, Georgia.

Last October, while on a two-week home leave, Mejia refused to return to his outfit in Iraq, saying the war was “illegal.”

He asked the military for conscientious objector status, was refused, and was charged with desertion instead.

[Source: Al Jazeera]

What’s that again? oh yeah, freedom of expression and choice.
Maybe we should change it to “freedom of oppression” so that nobody’s confused about what it really means.

Quote of the day

“The demolitions are part of an ongoing war against Palestinian civilians that goes far beyond terrorist attacks. So disproportionate is the Israeli response, so indiscriminate in its attacks upon an innocent civilian population — some 1,200 houses have been demolished in Gaza the past three years — that Israeli actions can only be described as state terrorism. Attacks on non-combatant populations, collective punishment and the demolition of homes are all illegal under international law and constitute war crimes…”

Jeff Halper, the Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions