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ABay

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Posts posted by ABay

    S04.E01: Panopticon

    in Person Of Interest [V]

    · Edited by ABay

    My question is - how would the Machine get the store manager to go along with Shaw's appointment? The guy comes to work, finds some paperwork saying that Sameen So-and-so is now working for him there - fine, so far so good, maybe he was sick the day his new employee was interviewed, I suppose. But then, when he actually sees her "performance", why does he not fire her on the spot?

    It's possible he isn't the store manager, just the manager of that department and doesn't have hire/fire authority, that he has reported her but the report was mysteriously misplaced, or he's been informed she's the sister/niece/daughter/cousin/in-law/girlfriend of someone who can fire him, there are myriad possibilities. Or a wizard did it.

     

    We really don't know who the guy at the university was, either. The department chair? A Dean? Some human resources jerk? I guess I should just be glad Harold's dissertation wasn't about Napoleon although a conversation between Dr. Whistler and Dr. Linus would be fun for me.

    • Love 1

    The Borgias - General Discussion

    in The Borgias

    · Edited by ABay

    I love this episode*, so much wiliness on display. From what I've read though, the bit about buying votes via cuisine du jour were fabricated by rivals. But why let facts get in the way of a good story? Also, Sforza knew he was too young (comparatively) to have a shot at the papacy this time around and supported Borgia from the start; they two of them were allies from way back and it was only Sforza's stance with regard to the French that eventually drove a wedge between them (I can't recall the details).

     

    Borgia was, however, a good organizer as Della Rovere says, and improved the administration of the church as both Vice Chancellor and Pope. I think that's true, but it also sounds like the faint praise from a rival.

     

    I flove Versucci and Piccolomini, the Statler and Waldorf of the Consistory. And Master Burchard! I would've liked a lot more of him.

     

    *By which I mean the first episode. I've been here since summer and apparently will never understand the logic of this site.

    • Love 1

    S01.E01: Pilot

    in Forever [V]

    The voice overs, as many have noted, are annoying. Gruffudd is pretty, as many have also noted. And it's a good thing because I think he's the weak link. Well. Him and the writing. There's just something about his delivery, and I don't mean the adorable accent, that seems out of step with the rest of the show.

    • Love 1

    S05.E03: Spotlight

    in Haven [V]

    I keep hoping, but don't know why, that the repeated "I can't leave until William and I are finished" (or words to that effect) will mean something. Like there's a goal they have to achieve to be able to move beyond Haven. I also keep hoping there's more to William. Like he's supernatural. Mara seems to require his help but he didn't need hers.

    Commercials That Annoy, Irritate or Outright Enrage

    in Commercials

    · Edited by ABay

    The Nationwide Insurance ad that touts all the "safety features" of a mom who's driving a car irritates me, especially the part where she has to make a sudden stop and swings her arm across to hold her kid in the seat even though the kid is firmly buckled up.

    I'd like to restate for the record that the driver should keep both fucking hands on the fucking wheel. An arm flung out in front of a passenger is not going to stop a passenger from slamming into the dashboard or windshiled. That's what seatbelts and airbags are for. The driver's arm will be hurt, possibly broken. If the mother's "maternal instinct" is just so very strong she can't but help to extend her arm, then it should be strong enough to keep her damn hands on the wheel so she can try to minimize impact by steering. GAH!

    • Love 7

    "The Daily Show": Week of 9/22/14

    in The Daily Show With Jon Stewart [V]

    · Edited by ABay

    That was the first interview I've watched all the way through for a couple of weeks. I have to block Animal Planet except for the Puppy Bowl because I get so fucking mad at the people who mistreat animals that I can't function. Thank god for the humans who rescue the four-footed animals from the two-footed ones.

    • Love 4

    S04.E01: Panopticon

    in Person Of Interest [V]

    · Edited by ABay

    Google doesn't even have to do that for dissertations: that's what UMI does. Now theses and dissertations are submitted electronically and in print, but in ye olde days, UMI scanned them onto microfiche and could print out copies for those willing to pay. Many of these have been converted to digital format and are available in full text through several methods*: you can request through interlibrary loan (even if you don't know who owns a copy, a librarian will find out), you can buy a copy from UMI, or if your library subscribes to the database, you can look up the diss or thesis and download it to your PC, or print it out (if you are ink and paper rich).

     

    There are limits. Some universities and individual writers choose not to make full text available online. Nonetheless, UMI will have a copy somewhere and you will most likely be able to buy a copy. Also, universities are not eager to lend dissertations thorough ILL.

     

    As for the subway book. The book, the pictures, quotes from its discussion of unused mostly forgotten underground places in NYC, whatever could be cited in a work that is available online, even if the content of the first book hasn't been scanned. If it's been cited enough (Google Scholar is a marvel), it would become obvious that it's the classic on the topic. From there, the Machine can find the call number etc. and whether the book is in the university library with WorldCat or because college catalogs are online and anyone can search them.

     

    All of which is stunningly convoluted but, you know: The Machine.

    • Love 4

    S04.E01: Panopticon

    in Person Of Interest [V]

    I'm worried that they're making Samaritan omnipotent. It's not satisfying, for me anyway, when the deck is so stacked.

     

    With regard to the dissertation: *Obviously*, the Machine runs UMI and input a dissertation it wrote, with typos, so it could be retrieved via Digital Dissertations & Theses by the typo-hunting chair/dean/provost, whoever that was.

    • Love 1

    S04.E01: Panopticon

    in Person Of Interest [V]

    · Edited by ABay

    There's no 15/15 here, right?

     

    OMG, they killed Fred Weller. You bastards! After that, it was meh until very near the end.

     

    Finally, the Library of Congress classification system.

     

    Harold and others to be gathered or recalled should be working on a virus to take out Samaritan, like the one used on the Machine. Maybe Artie...sorry, Arthur...left something behind. It would be even better to find a way to graph the Machine onto Samaritan so no one notices the difference. But not before Samaritan kills Greer, as it is clearly going to do, probably through the Woman in a Suit.

     

    Since I always thought the Man in a Suit was the most ridiculous identifier in the history of identifiers--they're in NYC which is full of men in suits, including the detectives and FBI agents investigating the Man in Suit--I was happy to see John ditch the suit jacket for most of the episode. OTOH, he looked weird without a jacket.

     

     

    They set that up in the last season finale.  Shaw and Root had infiltrated Samaritan and planted the cover IDs and made it so Samaritan would not recognize the 4 of them.

    And the 3 guys who helped Root.

     

     

    I've decided that Detective Crockett (is that his cover name? I really want it to be)

    That was Fusco making a joke. Riley as the name John was using. He's used it before when playing cop.

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