Archive for January 29th, 2008

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actress Sean Young, who built a career in 1980s movies “Blade Runner” and “No Way Out,” has checked into an alcohol rehab program following an outburst at the Directors Guild of America awards gala last weekend. 

Young “voluntarily admitted herself (on Monday) to a rehabilitation center for treatment related to alcoholism. It is understood that Young has struggled against the disease for many years,” the actress’s publicity agency said in a statement released on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman declined to comment beyond the statement.

At the prestigious Directors Guild of America awards, where film and television directors are honored for their work, Young on Saturday heckled Julian Schnabel from the audience when the director of “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” took the stage to give a speech.

Schnabel initially hesitated before beginning, and Young could be heard urging him to get on with it. Schnabel peered into the audience and told the actress to “go have another cocktail.”

Young, 48, was then escorted from the ceremony.

The actress rose to fame in the 1980s, and since then has starred in numerous movies and on TV. In recent years, she has had guest starring roles on TV programs like “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “One Tree Hill.”

Reuters/Nielsen

Second Skin is an upcoming documentary by Pure West Films that focuses on the lives of seven MMO gamers, exploring how their games of choice have affected their lives. It touches on many popular MMO topics, such as falling in love, becoming addicted, gold farming, and the effects virtual worlds can have on the handicapped.

Having spent that 1st 16 months of WoW playing it daily, I can relate to how pervasive it can become. In watching the characters on the film, it’s easy to think losers, but I think a lot of us and people we know have found identities within one of these games (WoW, EVE, Everquest, whatever). Given the experieces that I’ve had more extensively with the socio-mechanics of people at faire (and other small communities), humans seem to have a drive to find a place that means something to them. It could be as a leader or follower or just part of a team, but where it comes from (real life or virtual) is rather immaterial.

I’ve seen talk about how the online world (both in game, and just on the Net) is causing people to be more isolated, but there are questions about what is required to be isolated (is it simply the lack of face to face and human proximity)? If someone who doesn’t have a lot of friends in school (or as an adult), can find a thriving place in a community, even if it’s remote itsn’t a bad thing. I think it’s more if one healthy network is abandoned for another that issues genuinely arise. Meaning that if a kid (we’ll use an archtypical high school student in the example) who is getting good grades, has friends, and is involved in activities becomes so engrossed in an online world that they let those pieces of their lives fall apart or suffer, then that’s a serious issue. But if they’re a loner and a border-columbine type in the first place, if they can find an outlet to have a role in even a virtual society, it could be a life saver – or at the least help them achieve more self-confidence and social skills than they had previously.

Second Skin Home Page Pure West Films

Here’s the best layman’s example of the various RAID drive redundancy levels I’ve ever stumbled across:

Forwarded from Tim Jesus:

It saddens my heart greatly to report that our patriarch, Ken Wiepert passed away this evening (1/27/08) around 11pm. His passing brings him and his wife Joan back together. As soon as Services are arranged, I will let everyone know the specifics.

As Ken stated in his goodbye to Joan at her memorial, “We apparently touched a lot of people.” So please pass the word to those that my not have access to this posting.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions?

Thank you,

Tim Jesus
(925) 360-2579
Guildmaster Clan Iain Abrach MacIain