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red-sector-rivendell · 3 years

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media reccs? 👀 since apparently you are a man of good taste?

Wow thank you 😏 I have a masterlist of movies that have changed me I often recommend to people, I'll just copy and paste here with quick synopses lol, it's kinda long. I'm not super great at writing synopses tho so bear with me

Dead Poets Society (1989)

One of my favorite movies of all time and a total classic. It's about a group of boys at a strict boarding school who are inspired by their new English teacher (played by Robin Williams) to think for themselves and chase their dreams. This movie literally changed my life lol

Quadrophenia (1979)

This movie is based off of the story behind the concept album by The Who of the same name. It follow the life of a young man named Jimmy who is in a gang called the Mods. Theres this huge gang war between them and the Rockers (I think that's their name, it's been a while since i watched it) and Jimmy questions his beliefs about coming-of-age and his values in life throughout the film

Cabaret (1972)

Based off of the Broadway musical of the same name, this movie is about a British man who moves to Germany during the beginning of the rise of Nazis. He meets a woman who basically turns his world upside down, and it follows their love affair and sexuality and anti-semitism, and it's hilarious and heart wrenching and a beautiful movie

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

This is a super trippy romance film. Basically in the universe of this movie, theres a technology that is developed that can delete memories of an entire person from your mind while you are in a dream-like state, and the main character of this movie (played by Jim Carrey) decides to undergo the procedure after a bad breakup. Its soooo good I highly recommend this movie

It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012)

This is an animated film about a man named Bill who is going through brain cancer. Its told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator essentially communicating everything Bill sees, hears, and experiences. This is the movie that got me into film and it is still a complete masterpiece and one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen

The Dirties (2013)

Loved this one a lot back in high school, it's been a while since I watched it. This is a film made in Canada about a high schooler named Matt Johnson and his friend Owen who decide to make a short film for their class about them killing the gang at their school that bullies them, and things take a dark turn. It's a hilarious movie and hits pretty close to home for me in a lot of ways haha

Logan's Run (1976)

Great movie, pretty cheesy though so be warned. This is based off a book with the same name, and it takes place in the future where most of humanity is wiped out except for a small society that lives under a domed structure. No one is allowed to leave the dome, and to control overpopulation, no one is allowed to live past the age of 30. It's really bizarre but I love this movie

Donnie Darko (2001)

Pretty sure this was Jake Gyllenhaal's first big hit when he was super young (I think he was like 19 in this movie but I'm not sure) basically about this kid, Donnie Darko, who is somewhat schizophrenic and has a habit of sleepwalking. After one particular incident he has a near-death experience and starts seeing a man in a bunny costume everywhere who makes him do weird stuff. Another pretty trippy movie with a crazy ending

American Psycho (2000)

Honestly I'm sure a few on this list you've probably seen (most likely this one included) but I didnt wanna leave any out because they're all so good. If you haven't seen this, it's about a Wall Street executive named Patrick Bateman who is a materialistic phony by day and a serial killer by night. I tried to read the book but the inner dialogue was really hard to get through lmao. Awesome movie though huge recommend.

Clockwork Orange (1971)

Yet another trippy one. And fuck it's been a long time since I've seen it so I might get some stuff wrong here. But it's basically about this serial rapist guy who hangs out with this group of goons and they all like to go beat up homeless people and shit, but the main character gets captured and has to go through reformation therapy to make him a better person. It's an extremely bizarre movie but soooo good and kind of hilarious lol

Creep (2014)

Of course this is on my list haha. If you haven't seen it yet, it's a horror movie about this freelance film guy who answers an ad on craigslist to help a man with cancer film a movie for his unborn son. And shit gets weird real fast. One of my favorite horror movies ever, I wouldnt say it's super scary but it's fun as fuck

Hereditary (2018)

If I'm being honest, I don't like a lot of big movies made in super recent years and especially not horror movies (mostly because they're all cheap cash grabs with no substance) but this one is an exception for me. Hereditary is fucking masterful in my opinion, legitimately creepy as hell and well-produced and well written. To put the plot as vaguely as possible without spoiling anything, it's about a family (mostly the mother) who go through some crazy fucked up shit. That's literally all I can say without giving anything away. Super good flick, big recommend

Gattaca (1997)

This list isn't in any particular order, and I love all these movies to death, but if I had to rank them this would probably be on the lower end. It's not a bad movie, it's still great but it's just not as life-changing as the other ones lmao. This takes place in the future where genetic modifications have progressed to a point where you can modify your unborn child's DNA to have the perfect baby. This has led to, essentially racial bias against those who never had that procedure when they were born. The main character was not one of these "special" children, but he wants an extremely prestigious job which requires that of the employee. Through the film, he is trying to fake his identity and fool the company into thinking he is one of these perfect people. Still a great film

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Johnny Depp, man, he is something else. I LOVE this movie. Based off a true story and a book written by the man who lived it, Hunter S. Thompson, this follows the adventure of the writer and his attorney as they go on a drugged-out, psychedelic romp through Las Vegas with the original intention being to cover a story on a motorcycle race, but things go off the rails as they both terrorize the entire city in a way. Just a fun ride the whole way, a great movie

The Truman Show (1998)

God I'm realizing this list is long as fuck. Don't watch all of these movies, it might take you a lifetime lmao. Anyway, this is a classic Jim Carrey movie and another one you've probably seen. But again, if you haven't, this movie is about a man whose entire life has been fabricated and shot for television without him knowing. Super great, super moving, fantastic film 10 outta 10 I gotta wrap this shit up

A Scanner Darkly (2006)

A lesser known Keanu Reeves movie, but fuck I wish more people have seen this. This is one of my favorite movies of all time, and it's based off a book which is just as amazing. This movie takes place in the near future, where facial recognition technology has progressed wayyy too far, and drugs have gotten to the point of no return. The plot follows a detective who is undercover in a junkie house trying to figure out who is the top of the drug dealing totem pole, but ends up wrapped in the junkie lifestyle a little too deeply. Seriously, I recommend this movie to everyone who asks, it's so damn good

Fight Club (1999)

Another popular one. If you havent seen it, it's based off a book by Chuck Palahniuk following the story of a man (the main character actually doesnt have a name lol) who meets a guy named Tyler Durden who changes his entire perspective on how the world works. They start an underground boxing club together to help themselves and other men blow off steam and get away from the capitalist consumer-centric lifestyle they are forced into. Big twist at the end, great movie five stars on yelp

Harold and Maude (1971)

This is a weird one. Gotta say. It's about a guy in his 20s who meets an old woman at a funeral and falls in love with her. Sounds pretty ok at face value but theres a lot of really strange subplots and a huuuuge twist at the end (one of the subplots being the guy compulsively fakes his suicide to get his mother's attention) big recommend

Polyester (1981)

This one I cant even explain u just have to watch it its fucking bizarre

Fargo (1996)

Ok lightning round on the synopses, this movie is about a man who wants to commit fraud by hiring guys to kidnap his wife so her father can pay them ransom and instead the husband gets the money but everything goes wrong it's really good

Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)

Another modern movie I actually like, last time I watched this I was on shrooms and it was crazy but it's about this hotel right on the border of california and (Nevada I think?) And all these weird people are staying at it and there are twists at every turn and chris hemsworth is a cult leader in it its great

Memento (2000)

GREAT MOVIE GOD PLEASE WATCH THIS ONE it's about a man who develops short term memory loss after witnessing the rape and murder of his wife AND WHEN I SAY THERE ARE TWISTS LIKE EVERY TEN MINUTES I MEAN IT. The film is chronologically backwards, in that the first scene takes place at the end of the story and works back from there in increments of like 5 minutes. Basically each scene is a segment of time that this guy remembers before his memory loss kicks in and he forgets and FUCK it's so good please god watch it

Almost Famous (2000)

This is another one that would probably be low on my ranking but still a great and fun movie, it's about this kid that wants to write articles about rock stars for the rolling stone (based off a true story btw) and he ends up running away to go ride on a tour bus with some band and gets into all types of shenanigans and its great and sad

Parasite (2019)

Another modern movie I love, fuck this is getting too long lmao. Poor family wants to make money and they hatch a scheme to pretend to be bougie and work for this rich family but shit gets weird and everything goes wrong and it's so good (also literally the only film ever that made me speechless afterwards)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Pretty much lives up to the hype, I totally forgot the plot but it's pretty damn good I remember that lmao

The Warriors (1979)

Fun movie, theres a bunch of teen gangs in New York and the leader of all of em is like "hey we should rally all the gangs together and fuck up the cops so we can rule this city" but then he gets shot by someone in the crowd and the gang The Warriors gets blamed so the whole movie is them running from all the other gangs so they can get back to home base and it's just an all around fun time movie

12 Monkeys (1995)

THIS MOVJE IS CRAZY it takes place in the future where a virus has almost completely wiped humans off the face of the earth so these scientists send this guy back in time to figure out where it came from so they can stop it from ever happening but obviously everything goes wrong and yadda yadda yadda it's amazing

Waking Life (2001)

Gonna preface this by saying this film is definitely not for entertainment, it's kind of an arthouse-type flick. It's the type of movie you have to think really really hard about to watch. The basic plot is the main character is stuck inside his own lucid dream, and is walking around listening to all these characters in his dream talk to him about, idk like the meaning of life and consciousness and shit. It's really good if you're in the mood for that type of thing.

Okay I'm finally done, you probably didnt expect this but I've been meaning to put my movie recommendations on this blog anyway haha. I deleted some just cause it was getting wayyyy too long. If u want a shorter list I can just give u like a top 5 in DMs but there u go have at it, every movie on that list is a banger I swear

#long post #movies #film #cinema #cinephile #ask #movie recommendations #you have no obligation to read all that #really shows how bored i am that i wrote out this whole fuckin thing on my phone lmao #youre welcome?

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askanonbinary · 7 years

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Non-binary isn't a real thing. Please stop trying to be "special" and "unique". You can't be neither male or female. Just because you think you lack specific traits identified as masculine or feminine doesn't mean you are a made-up gender. Kids will read crap that people like you come out with and will just be confused. Notice how no one over the age of 20 identifies themselves with these ridiculous made-up genders? I bet my life that you will look back on this in 30 years in embarrassment.

Hey anon, thank you so much for bringing this up! You’re right, there is an extremely saddening lack of focus on older nonbinary folks, and I think it is so, so important that kids like us are able to see themselves in their older role models. They are such wonderful, strong people who deserve recognition, so let me take this opportunity to tell you about some of the amazing older people I have in my life!

As I have mentioned in my introduction as a mod, I am a peer sex educator at a local youth program for LGBT teenagers. What I haven’t mentioned, however, is that this youth program is only one tiny part of a much larger organization thats spread alllllll around my state, and part of being a peer leader means that one of my duties is to attend bimonthly meetings with everyone involved with this organization. That means all the other youth peer leaders….and the adults they work with.

Its such an inspiring experience, honestly. In just my workplace alone, our program director is a genderfluid person in their 50s, who has been living in my town longer than I’ve been alive. They’ve been working in LGBT advocacy for the better part of thirty years now, and have been responsible for not only my town’s first pride parade, but our first LGBT prom and yearly tradition of hosting an intergenerational LGBT dinner with an elders group in the area. Our resident youth specialist, a nonbinary femme (and their super fantastic demiboy husband) are younger but still in their mid-30s, and have been doing an absolutely fantastic job so far in keeping our space safe and friendly. Both them and their husband, although he’s not technically an employee, have been adopted as the parents of the kids in our space who’s own aren’t doing their job well just because of how kind and understanding they are. Our previous youth advisor who recently moved was…Well, he was amazing. Bigender, in his 30s as well, he was such a huge influence on all our older group members and honestly such a driving force in my life. He’s helped me so much, personally, in finding my path - as unconventional as it is- and has helped me work though some really difficult times a few years ago and will forever hold a place in the hearts of everyone who worked with him.

Working in the greater organization can sometimes be a bit frustrating, because each youth group has their own kind of culture and ways and trying to translate that into a way we can work together can be a challenge, but such a worthy one. I have met so many hard working and inspiring older nonbinary folks, from all walks of life and with vastly different things to teach. The intergenerational dinner I previously mentioned? All the members of the elders group are between the ages of 60 and 100, and I have held some really interesting and informative discussions with the nonbinary members about their lives and growth as people! One notable experience is a transfeminine nonbinary woman who told me about how she came out to her wife when she was 57 years old. She began to formally transition a few years later, and explained to me how overjoyed she was to learn that not only was there a term to describe her experience as a person, but that she finally lived in an area in a time in her life where she could comfortably and freely live as she wants. She has three children and a grandchild, and has never been happier.

If you are a young nb and worried about your future, or worse, believe there is no future to worry about… I promise you, these amazing people are prime examples of how you can live happily well into adulthood without worrying about whether your identity is just something you picked up as a dumb kid. If you’re older, hey, you’re not the only one! Older nb folks exist everywhere you care to look, all it takes is a little time to find them. xx

-Kan

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Hi, there! I just wanted to chime in here that I’m over 20 and have ID’d as nonbinary for several years! As for your bet, thanks, but if you have nothing better to do with your life than harrassing and trying to police how other people identify, I don’t think we want it. Thanks, but no thanks. Have a nice day, and thanks for your message!

~Mod Ceibh

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Didn’t even ID as nonbinary until I was over 20!

~ Mod Sock

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d3constructionists-blog · 29 years

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January 14, 1995

Reprogramming a Convicted Hacker; To His On-Line Friends, Phiber Optik Is a Virtual Hero

Three years ago, Mark Abene was a computer cowboy who roamed cyberspace when it was an unfenced frontier. A computer geek who was "wired" long before the term was coined, he considered the Internet too easy and looked for a bigger challenge. And he found it by breaking into the computer systems of some of the nation's biggest corporations -- a crime that landed him and three of his friends in Federal prison.

Since the four were charged in 1992 with the most extensive computer intrusions on record, the world has caught up with them. Getting on line is the height of fashion; it has become a gathering place for everyone from the Rolling Stones to the Speaker of the House.

And now, Mr. Abene has emerged from Schuylkill County Prison in Pennsylvania to find himself a folk hero -- the infamous Phiber Optik.

"Mark is famous in the on-line world," said Stacy Horn, the founder of Echo, a New York computer bulletin board that is a kind of high-brow electronic salon, visited via modem by authors, professors and museum curators. "He broke into every phone company computer in the world."

Ms. Horn, dressed in downtown black, was the host of a welcome home party for Mr. Abene on Thursday night at the dance club Irving Plaza. The night pulsed with radical chic as Manhattan artists and professionals feted the 22-year-old man from Elmhurst, Queens, the son of a union official and a department store billing clerk, who did most of his breaking and entering with an inexpensive TRS-80 computer from Radio Shack.

"They tell us to reach out and touch someone, but don't reveal it's forbidden to touch them," a flutist in the underground band Foamola, who was identified only by her cyber handle, Violet Snow, said from the stage. "Phiber reached out and touched them, and was exiled to Pennsylvania."

Andrew Johnston, 26, a computer graphics designer for an advertising agency, said: "I grew up with computers like many in my generation, and I always had lots of respect for the hacker community. I always felt they were exercising freedom and pushing frontiers. They were doing something very important for American society."

Many said Mr. Abene, a thin young man with a wispy goatee, epitomized the hacker credo that access to information should be free, not monopolized by big corporations, although they were quick to acknowledge that they didn't want anyone breaking into their own computers to peek at their hard drives.

In the deep baritone he once used to convince Nynex employees that he was a repairman working on a telephone pole and in need of confidential information, Mr. Abene said before the party that his 10 months in prison had been miserable.

Deprived of a computer for the first time in years, he was bored and made to spend his days shoveling snow and buffing floors. Ms. Horn printed out and forwarded his E-mail from Echo, which held a kind of on-line vigil for him until his release. Prison, he said defiantly, did not reform or rehabilitate him.

"I wouldn't do this again now, but only because I was caught," he said. "I'm not telling people not to do the things I did. There's always going to be people hacking. All I'm doing is cautioning them they've got to be careful."

Mr. Abene and his three friends, who called themselves the Masters of Deception, or MOD, all pleaded guilty. According to a forthcoming book about the case, "Masters of Deception: The Gang That Ruled Cyperspace" (Harper Collins) by Michelle Slatalla and Joshua Quittner, MOD members traded celebrities' credit reports that they stole from the computers of TRW "like baseball cards." The reports included those of Geraldo Rivera, Richard Gere and Tony Randall. They also sold some reports.

The book depicts Mr. Abene as the brains behind the gang, the one who cracked the code for navigating the phone companies' vast network of call-switching computers. MOD members were able to set up unbillable phone numbers, listen to conversations, and in a prank aimed at a rival hacker, turn a home phone into a pay phone that demanded "Please deposit 25 cents" whenever the receiver was lifted.

The public first heard of the group on Nov. 28, 1989, when hackers wiped out the information in the Learning Link computer system operated by WNET, Channel 13, in New York, which served hundred of schools. Teachers and librarians who logged onto the system read the message, "Happy Thanksgiving you turkeys, from all of us at MOD."

Mr. Abene and many of his admirers are at pains to distinguish his actions from what they consider the more serious crimes of other MOD members. Mr. Abene denied he was involved in the crash of the Learning Link or in selling credit reports. "Selling access to credit histories is unacceptable," he said. "You're crossing the line into theft."

He maintains that he broke into computers only to gain an understanding of how they worked; his friends used the knowledge to make money. "It was something that got out of control," he said.

Yet, Stephen Fishbein, the lead prosecutor in the case, said Mr. Abene's role went well beyond electronic trespassing. "He's not telling the whole story when he says he was just looking," said Mr. Fishbein, who is now in private practice. "He was altering files and he was getting free services."

Indeed, Mr. Abene pleaded guilty in 1993 to breaking into computers belonging to Southwestern Bell, installing "back door" programs to allow him to re-enter at will and making other modifications that cost the company about $370,000 to correct.

Ms. Horn and some others at the party denied that Mr. Abene was being lionized for his outlaw deeds, but rather, for his contributions to Echo. Before Mr. Abene went to prison, Ms. Horn hired him to debug her computer system.

"I'd literally consulted supposedly the greatest minds in the country, engineers for each piece of equipment I had," she said, "but nobody could fix the problems. Here comes this kid who says, 'I can solve all your problems.' I was nervous, but my gut instinct was he could be trusted.

"He did fix all the problems. How could I not think of him as my techno savior?"

Other Echo members have come to know Mr. Abene -- now Echo's chief engineer -- as a calm and helpful voice on the phone, talking them through problems with the Internet. Initially disdainful of participating in Echo's on-line discussion groups, Mr. Abene joined one for people under 30. He met with fellow users off line, and fell in love with a young woman.

"Mark is a valued member of the community," said Robert Knuts, a fraud attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission who is a long-time Echo user. "I have a high level of confidence he's using his amazing talent to better the community.

The only discouraging words at the party came from a small contingent of hackers and former hackers, who watched as Mr. Abene was followed by reporters for Time, Newsweek, New York magazine, The New York Times and a local television news team.

A tall, thin young man, who described himself as an ex-hacker who now works in computer security, said that while growing up he'd worshiped Phiber Optik. "The hacker fight is a fight for freedom, for freedom of expression," said the young man, who did not want to be identified for fear of losing his job.

He sneered as a woman kissed Mr. Abene on the cheek and led him by the hand to meet her friends. The ex-hacker had recently met his hero in person and been disappointed. "He's gotten a swollen head now," said the young man.

Photo: Mark Abene, known as Phiber Optik, makes a point at his welcome home party at the Irving Plaza Club. He is one of the world's most celebrated hackers. "He broke into every phone company computer in the world," an admirer said. (Philip Greenberg for The New York Times)

#technology

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