nellardo writes "Solaris is Steven Soderbergh's newest film and ostensibly a major departure for him -- it's a science-fiction film, a remake of the earlier Tarkovsky film of the even earlier Stansilaw Lem novel. Soderbergh is known for his many introspective, character-oriented art house films. His more recent work has been moving towards more marketable Elmore-Leonard-style "thrillers" (including Out of Sight, which is in fact based on a Leonard book, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven). So a "science fiction film" seems like an inventive departure. Sadly, it isn't - it's more of Soderbergh's usual schtick." Read on for more of nellardo's review.

In high tech time, the span between Network Associates dropping PGP, its purchase by the purpose-formed PGP Corporation and that company's release today of PGP 8.0 may not be a short stretch, but it's been a busy several months. A product which appeared moribund despite widespread acclaim a few years earlier -- a victim of skewed corporate logic -- has rebounded for another major release, and Philip Zimmermann is doing something he's never done before: actually selling PGP. And as Zimmermann had urged long before NAI forged a deal with PGP Corporation, this time around the full source code is being released, albeit with strings. Read on for the rest of the story.

David Graham writes: "Recently, I incorporated a wireless camera into an HO scale 74' passenger car to make a TrainCam, and this is the story of its construction. Lacking space to build a set in my rented single room, I built a simple 18" radius track on the carpet, going through the frame of my bed. On it, I added a short Amtrak train and watched it go in decidedly boring little circles. Not long after I started running the train, it derailed and clearly demonstrated why carpets are not the best place for model trains to be. Meanwhile, upstairs in his room, one of my house-mates had just bought a small wireless camera, battery pack, and receiver for a little over C$100 and was demonstrating its ability to broadcast conversations and images from as far as 200 feet away back to his computer screen, with the help of a TV capture card. It wasn't long before I started coveting the little camera and I soon bought myself one. It was not for the purpose of listening to my friends' conversations so much as it was to record the train as it chugged around the uneven little track on my floor." For the whole story on the project, read on below.

Solaris was one of several movies to hit the theaters this Thanksgiving weekend, and it won't be the most successful. The 1961 sci-fi novel has also been the source material for a 1972 film. There are numerous reviews - far more for Solaris than Die Another Day, suggesting that the critics were hopeful (Salon, NY Times), or maybe just tired of Bond, James Bond. I saw DAD as well this weekend, and my capsule review is simple: it sucked, the Bond franchise has definitely jumped the shark (two words: invisible car). But Solaris is worth a few more words.

Perlmonkey has written a summary on the latest Everquest Expansion, and Sony's efforts to thwart those who might wish to to tap into the packets and do things that maybe aren't exactly fair to other players. Or they just want a map that should have been in the first place. In anycase, hit the link below to read his piece on the subject.

Ismenio writes with the following review of the online film distribution system Movielink.com. Here's his Quick summary: "Pros: convenient, prices are OK, selection includes some "new" releases, no late fees. Cons: no widescreen format, technical issues in download, only 24-hour-watch period, no search function, for US only." Read on for the rest of his review.

Reader darnellmc writes with this review: "I have been waiting for a service where I could download and burn popular music for a reasonable price. I know even $9.99 a CD or 99 cents a track is still price gouging given the record industry's cost to allow me to download music, but I can live with that. So I gave UMG's new music downloading service a try and wanted to share my experience, since it may help others." Read on for the rest of darnellmc's description of the UMG system's pros and cons. Hint: if you don't have IE handy, you might not find this service very friendly.

I'm not embarassed to admit that I'm 26 years old and a fan of Harry Potter. This weekend saw the release of the 2nd film based on Rowling's books about the wizard boy and his education at Hogwarts. The first film was a smash blockbuster, will this one live up to the huge expectations? My review follows. There will probably be spoilers, but if you haven't read the book, why do you care about the movie?

raminf writes "Stumbled across the Kameleon -- a new remote control device from Univeral Electronics. The interface is a blank electro-luminescent touch-screen. The 'buttons' are animated graphics drawn to match any device you choose . You can update new device interfaces via a modem (specs aren't clear how exactly). You can also define 'macro' buttons to do multiple tasks with one button. Apparently it also has a built-in motion-sensor and turns itself on when you pick it up. You can't buy it directly in the U.S. yet. Here's a British web-site that carries it and has some specs and a picture. Here's the company press release. RadioShack has announced they'll be carrying it retail pretty soon."

I'm nothing if not a toy junky, and when Danger sent me at long last, a review unit of their excellent little HoTop PDA/Cellphone, now known as the T-Mobile Sidekick. I jumped at the chance to get into the thing and get my opinions out there.

An anonymous reader submitted this interesting software request/editorial piece. The idea of digital demonstrations is still more or less in its infancy; various methods have been tried but none have proven to be perfect. Slashdot recently covered one presentation about digital demonstrations given at H2K2 [grep Dornseif] - the slides are online. The writer has glossed over some technical details, and the theoretical system he describes doesn't meet all of Dornseif's criteria for a digital demonstration which mimics physical ones (which seemed pretty well thought out at H2K2), but it's certainly an interesting idea nonetheless.

Spirited Away, or Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, is a made-for-Japan animated film that has now made it across the Pacific. Famed director Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli are well-known for producing exceptional films, and this one is outstanding. It made some vast amount of money in Japan, and U.S. critics are raving about it, but it probably isn't showing in your neighborhood: it's opening in ten large cities this week, a few more next week, and perhaps still more the week after that. There's a proprietary-format trailer available.

al3x writes "I attended the Digital Rights Management Workshop held this afternoon at the Dept. of Commerce in my home town of Washington, DC. Though there were a number of professional journalists present, some of whom have already gotten their story on the event out, I want to offer a view less constrained by the need for journalistic objectivity, and share the eye-opening experience I wasn't expecting." al3x's story follows; Grant Gross of Newsforge attended and wrote up his experiences; and besides the News.com story, Declan also took a bunch of photographs. However, he has misidentified Jay Sulzberger in the photographs and story - this is Jay Sulzberger, not the guy kneeling at the table. Update: 07/18 15:07 GMT by M : The kneeler is now identified as Brett Wynkoop.

Your intrepid reporter took a jaunt down to the H2K2 conference this past weekend, held in the lovely Hotel Pennsylvania. The conference had much more floor space than they had two years ago, and it seemed like more attendance as well. Wireless networks were available, though overcrowded, and if you didn't encrypt your communications, well, you've probably already paid the price. My notes on the conference and the sessions I attended are below, followed by a couple of reader submissions.

The first Men In Black came out of nowhere five years ago. Barry Sonnenfeld stole the box office that summer with the original, strange, hilarious, spoofy sci-fi comedy. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones were the perfect pair for this inventive "who-are-the-aliens-in-our-midst" romp, playing secret agents working for a super-secret government agency keeping an eye on beings from outer space. It was perfect for the era of the still-vibrant X-Files. The sequel, inevitably, has lost some of the surprise. But it's still plenty of fun. Spoilage warning: plot discussed, not ending, not that it matters here.

If only H.L. Mencken or A.J. Liebling were still around to weigh in on the kidnapping stories suffusing our media lately. Alas, they're not. They wouldn't even be able to find work these days. And too bad. If healthy media criticism still existed, someone might have pointed out the insane hype that shrouded tragedies like the death of Princess Di and TWA Flight 800. Pandering media hype isn't new to people who've been on the Net or the Web. Just consider the hacking and porno scares and insane coverage of offspring companies like Microsoft and Amazon. Why does a case like the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart get so much attention when others just as horrific get none at all? The answer is as obvious as it is depressing.

The sleaze has gotten out of hand; it's time to roast a group of 20 or so companies whose profits are directly linked to creating fear in their customers, who have to keep discovering new sources of fear to improve their bottom line - or in the absence of new discoveries, keep inventing new sources of fear. Yes, it's time to take on the anti-virus software vendors.

"Its like being the world's tallest midget" is how Flansburgh describes They Might Be Giants fame at one point during the bands documentary, Gigantic. I was lucky enough to score tickets to the opening screening here in Seattle of the movie and was delighted with what I received for the price of admission. Of course having one of the John's, Flansburgh that is, plus the director AJ Schnack show up to the screening only added to the value.

Ex-Amazon.com wage slave Mike Daisey asks in one fantasy e-mail to his then-boss Jeff Bezos: "Would it have been so hard to build a cool and quirky bookstore instead of a soulless virtual megamall? You were afraid: afraid to define the company, afraid the stock would drop, afraid not to feed the monster. What you sacrifice reveals what you value, and you're a fool if you think the world will forgive you in the end." Prescient stuff. 21 Dog Years: Doing Time @ Amazon.com , Daisey's hilarious, heartbreaking and surprisingly powerful recounting of life inside what may be the world's strangest, most ephemeral company -- a symbol of all that was exciting, misguided, and ultimately misunderstood about business online during the mad years. It's also one of the best books ever written about the Net, an unsparing, even brutal indictment not only of hubris, but of media and, of course, the corporate-spawned hype that shapes so much of American life.

It may not be the summer's happiest movie, but it might be the best (and there isn't a single marching digital Army, special effect, or marketing tie-in involved!). Hilary Swank and Robin Williams co-star in this dark tale of murder and redemption, but it's really Al Pacino's movie from beginning to end. And he was born to play the role of the exhausted, tough, morally confused LA homicide cop pursued by the do-gooders from Internal Affairs (IA), sent off to Alaska to help an old pal solve a vicious killing. The plot is a touch cheesy at moments, but the film is wonderfully acted, and beautifully shot. It's also dark, a great and timely movie. This isn't a take-your-mind-off-your-troubles summer flick. Neither is it a mega-epic. SPOILAGE WARNING: Plot discussed, not ending.