Enable Num Lock on Windows Startup

 I may not be the only one who is exasperated by the fact that we’ll have to activate num lock on every startup simply to enter our password to login.

Now, there are several ways to have it activated on startup.

Three profoundly different ways were described by Shyam from The Windows Club. He proposes deactivating Fast Start on Windows, editing the registry and running a script on startup.

The last option is the least intrusive, so I will relay that one.

Open your preferred simple text editor, like Notepad, Emacs, or (my choice) Notepad++.

Enter the following code:

set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WshShell.SendKeys "{NUMLOCK}"

Save the file on a safe place on your main drive with a meaningful name and the extension *.vsb (say NumLockOnStartup.vbs).

Open your task scheduler and create a new task. Under General, you set it to run with the highest privileges and only when the user is logged on. Under Triggers, you set it to run at startup. Under Actions, you add the action Start a Program and add the link to your script file (i.e. NumLockOnStartup.vbs with its full path).

Save the task, and you should have num lock enabled the next time to start your Windows.

Jurassic Shark - a short review

 

A short while ago we had a visitor with whom we discovered a shared passion: B movies. When I was an adolescent, I watched anything that could be vaguely considered science fiction. With the advent of cheap cameras and editing software, anyone could make films and the distinction between A, B and C (or even Z) gets increasingly blurred, so I more or less stopped watching.

Now, our visitor suggested Jurassic Park. While not her words exactly, but she suggested that the film was made with as little talent as the makers could get away with, but not without some enthusiasm.

The same evening, after she left, we watched the film, and afterward I was faced with a serious conundrum: rating the film. On one side, the film is undeniable awful. Awful dialogue, delivered by awful actors, shot at some quarry lake and long abandoned hangar, with zero production values (unless you consider young women in bikinis as value).

Take the poster, which undoubtedly presents the most professional part of the production. There are no helicopters in the film, no explosion on a boat, no explosions to be seen (only heard), and the shark is way smaller (and way less realistic).

So, in the end, as films go, this one deserves by all standards only one point (actually zero, but most sites don't allow that, so it gets one point as a participation trophy, for the simple fact that it exists). But then I had so much fun with this inaptitude, the sincerity with which everyone was playing their parts - abetted by the fact that without the titles (both opening and end titles) the whole took only about 55 minutes, that I cannot help it but to give it two points on the Internet Movie Database.

As for the story, there is not much to tell. A drilling company inadvertently releases a shark that was frozen underground for millions of years to a lake. At the same time, a group of students and a gang of art thieves drop by and get caught up, first with the shark, then with one another.

The real surprise came later, when I found out that most people involved with the film kept working in the film industry and kept finding work.

reCAPTCHA Hell

What is a Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart?

Well, we have all come across these puzzles on the internet that you need to solve in order to access some site, some service or download. Created to protect again spam and bots, one can image a good use in principle. Well, you sense a but coming up, right?

But then you reach that site that asks you to solve a puzzle that is "easy for people" yet somehow you never manage to do so. Well that impossible solution has a name:

reCAPTCHA

While I have kinda made my peace with Google’s ubiquity as I’m writing these lines using Google Chrome and publishing this article on Blogger, here is the case where this monopoly got cumbersome. Here we have an API that simply is effectively blocking legitimate user from using the service provided by the website using said API - eventually driving them away. I all but stopped using any webpage using reCAPTCHA as I’m losing (at best) a lot of time solving or (at worst) not solving it. I wonder how many others like me started to avoid these reCAPTCHAs while looking for other, more viable service providers.

And I wish more people would start boycotting any website usings these impossible to solve tests. Even the name Turing test is a misnomer because Alan Turing imagined a test where a human can test it’s communication partner. I doubt that an machine-created test will be ever sophisticated enough so a machine could not solve it. If a machine is capable to create the test and understand the responses a machine can also solve the test. reCAPTCHA kinda proves this point by creating a test that neither man nor machine can solve.

Most Successful Star Trek Movies

It has been a while since my last post but in anticipation of the new Star Trek show Discovery I thought a brief overview over the box office successes of the Star Trek franchise might be a fun read.

The Movies

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Released December 7th, 1979 and directed by Robert Wise, considered by Rotten Tomatoes as the third-worst and by Metacritic as the second-worst of the series. I personally liked the movie for its actual continuation of the boldy go where no man has gone before theme and especially liked its slow pace. Well, and its Director’s Cut has been indeed an improvement.

Domestic Box Office: $82,258,456
Worldwide Box Office: $139,000,000
Inflation Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $283,480,334
Inflation Adjusted Worldwide Box Office: $479,000,000

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan

Released June 4, 1982 and directed by Nicholas Meyer, considered by Rotten Tomatoes as the third-best and by Metacritic as the fourth-best of the series. Fun and fast-paced with a great Ricardo Montalban.

Domestic Box Office: $78,912,963
Worldwide Box Office: $95,800,000
Inflation Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $232,175,887
Inflation Adjusted Worldwide Box Office: $282,000,000

Star Trek: The Search for Spock

Released June 1, 1984 and directed by Leonard Nimoy, considered by Rotten Tomatoes as the sixth-worst and by Metacritic as the fourth-worst of the series. Any scene with the crew is among the best but anything is of little interest, Christopher Lloyd notwithstanding.

Domestic Box Office: $76,471,046
Worldwide Box Office: $87,000,000
Inflation Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $196,867,417
Inflation Adjusted Worldwide Box Office: $224,000,000

Star Trek: Voyage Home

Released November 26, 1986 and directed by Leonard Nimoy, considered both by Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic as the sixth-best of the series. A crowd-pleaser and the first with a message.

Domestic Box Office: $109,713,132
Worldwide Box Office: $133,000,000
Inflation Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $252,717,820
Inflation Adjusted Worldwide Box Office: $306,000,000

Star Trek: The Final Frontier

Released June 9, 1989 and directed by William Shatner, considered both by Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic as the worst of the series. While it has its share of desastrous ideas, to me it is on par with The Undiscovered Country. The Final Frontier was the better Star Trek movie while The Undiscovered Country is the better movie.

Domestic Box Office:$52,210,049
Worldwide Box Office: $70,200,000
Inflation Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $113,187,196
Inflation Adjusted Worldwide Box Office: $152,000,000

Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country

Released December 6, 1991 and directed by Nicholas Meyer, considered both by Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic as the seventh-best/worst of the series. It has a great story, excellent effects and other production values, but it sucks in dialogue and so many small details, that it makes me cringe even thinking about it. (But I want that phaser Valeris shot in the kitchen. Imagine shooting at Deanna and only her uniform disappears!)

Domestic Box Office: $74,888,996
Worldwide Box Office: $96,900,000
Inflation Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $153,992,542
Inflation Adjusted Worldwide Box Office: $199,000,000

Star Trek: Generations

Released November 18, 1994 and directed by David Carson, considered by Rotten Tomatoes as the fourth-worst and by Metacritic as the fifth-worst of the series. It was cool to finally see the crew of the Enterprise-D on the big screen but its story was awful and would have been a mediocre filler episode on the show.

Domestic Box Office: $75,671,262
Worldwide Box Office: $120,000,000
Inflation Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $159,875,563
Inflation Adjusted Worldwide Box Office: $254,000,000

Star Trek: First Contact

Released November 22, 1996 and directed by Jonathan Frakes, considered by Rotten Tomatoes as the second-best and by Metacritic as the third-best of the series. My favorite movies in the series, with a good story, a frightening villain, great ideas abound etc. etc.

Domestic Box Office: $92,027,888
Worldwide Box Office: $150,000,000
Inflation Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $179,893,955
Inflation Adjusted Worldwide Box Office: $293,000,000

Star Trek: Insurrection

Released December 11, 1998 and directed by Jonathan Frakes, considered by Rotten Tomatoes as the fifth-worst and by Metacritic as the sixth-worst of the series. Insurrection shares the same problems with Generations, notably its mediocrity, but with a better director.

Domestic Box Office: $70,187,658
Worldwide Box Office: $117,800,000
Inflation Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $127,817,512
Inflation Adjusted Worldwide Box Office: $215,000,000

Star Trek: Nemesis

Released December 13, 2002 and directed by Stuart Baird, considered by Rotten Tomatoes as the second-worst and by Metacritic as the third-worst of the series. To me Nemesis was the nadir of the series: a movie made for money, for ego, for contractual obligations (whatever) - without any heart at all, by the numbers.

Domestic Box Office: $43,254,409
Worldwide Box Office: $67,312,826
Inflation Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $64,211,450
Inflation Adjusted Worldwide Box Office: $100,000,000

Star Trek

Released May 8, 2009 and directed by J.J. Abrams, considered both by Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic as the best of the series. A good cast and beautiful cameo by Leonard Nimoy can not make up for a bad script and even worse direction. But its success breathed life into the franchise.

Domestic Box Office: $257,730,019
Worldwide Box Office: $385,680,446
Inflation Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $297,248,626
Inflation Adjusted Worldwide Box Office: $445,000,000

Star Trek Into Darkness

Released May 16, 2013 and directed by J.J. Abrams, considered by Rotten Tomatoes as the fourth-best and by Metacritic as the second-best of the series. A huge improvement over its predecessor, enjoyable. But I still don’t like J.J. Abrams as a director.

Domestic Box Office: $228,778,661
Worldwide Box Office: $467,381,584
Inflation Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $243,411,484
Inflation Adjusted Worldwide Box Office: $497,000,000

Star Trek Beyond

Released July 22, 2016 and directed by Justin Lin, considered both by Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic as the fifth-best of the series. What it lacks in a good villain it more than makes up by a better director.

Domestic Box Office: $158,848,340
Worldwide Box Office: $336,398,312
Not yet inflation adjusted.

The Verdict

Looking at the box office globally and inflation adjusted you get Star Trek Into Darkness as the winner with almost half a billion dollars in today’s money, closely followed by Star Trek: The Motion Picture with only 18 million dollars less. Star Trek’s 2009 reboot comes third. The remaining list (from highest to lowest global box office results) is as follows: Star Trek Beyond, Star Trek: The Voyage Home, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: The Search for Spock, Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek: The Final Frontier, and Star Trek: Nemesis. Adjusted for inflation the average worldwide box office per movie is about 291 million dollars.

Domestically the 2009 reboot (Star Trek) takes the top spot with almost 300 million of today’s dollars, followed by Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek: The Voyage Home on second and third places, respectively. The remaining list (from highest to lowest domestic box office results) is as follows: Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek: The Search for Spock, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek Beyond, Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek: The Final Frontier, and Star Trek: Nemesis. Adjusted for inflation the average domestic box office per movie is about 190 million dollars.

What is noteworthy for any analysis of Star Trek’s box office history is the fact that the early movies played mostly to an audience in North America which is most remarkable for Star Trek: The Search for Spock: only 12% of its global box office came from international markets while Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond took 51% and 53% of its box office from international markets.

As for its critical appreciation I turn to Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic: both agree on Star Trek (2009) as the best movie in the series, followed by Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek Beyond, Star Trek: The Voyage Home, Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek: The Search for Spock, Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek: Nemesis, and with Star Trek: The Final Frontier as the worst Star Trek movie ever, something both websites agree upon as well.

The Internet Movie Database is a good source for the public appreciation: IMDb’s voters agree with the critics and like Star Trek (2009) best, followed by Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: The Voyage Home, Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek Beyond, Star Trek: The Search for Spock, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek: Nemesis, Star Trek: Insurrection, and with Star Trek: The Final Frontier as the least liked.

And finally here’s my personal ranking of appreciation: my favorite is Star Trek: First Contact, followed by Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek: The Voyage Home, Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek Beyond, Star Trek: The Search for Spock, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: The Final Frontier, Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek (2009), and Star Trek: Nemesis.

Sources:
The Internet Movie Database - TMP, WOK, SFS, TVH, TFF, TUC, GEN, FCO, INS, NEM, STR, IDA, and BEY. © 1990-2017 IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
The Numbers Star Trek - TMP, WOK, SFS, TVH, TFF, TUC, GEN, FCO, INS, NEM, STR, IDA, and BEY. © 1997-2017 Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
Wikipedia - Star Trek film series. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.. Retrieved 5 August 2017.

Sex Education: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Maybe not as news worthy as the U.S. elections or Near East wars but timeless and more useful information for anyone un-Sex.Ed-ucated (like Catholic clergy, Muslim "freedom" fighters, Methodists and so on).

Werner Ruhner: Friedrich Wolfs Bummi

Post by Werner Ruhner.

Ihr könnt das Buch u.a. auf Amazon.de kaufen.

Source: Werner Ruhner Facebook Fan Page

Stephen Fry // Live at the Sydney Opera House