Screen Junkies took the opening of the movie Wicked this week as an excuse to go back and do an Honest Trailer for a movie made in 1939. They don't have to explain The Wizard of Oz to us because we've all seen us (or should have by now), and there's not much they can criticize about the filmmaking. However, they reframe the absurd story through a modern eye to be about a young girl with a serious concussion who accomplishes her mission through murder, theft, and consorting with strange men.    

By the way, Wicked is another of the many recent movies that explore the tragic early life and motivations of an existing movie villain to make them appear sympathetic and allow us to feel better about liking them. See also: Maleficent, Joker, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Cruella, Minions: The Rise of Gru, and the Star Wars prequels.

All aboard the Quarantrain! A large setup of miniature trains in a realistic setting is always a treat, and you have to admire the craftsmanship and dedication of those who make them. Jim Merullo did that with some extra goodies during the pandemic lockdown. He upgraded a previously-abandoned HO scale train layout with scenes that bring us all in on the joke. The first scene he made for what he calls the Quarantrain was a recreation of a classic Gary Larson Far Side comic. Making a standing cow was not easy- he had to combine parts of four cows to get it right. Another scene that caught my eye is an illustration of the Trolley Problem.

Will the switch operator do nothing and kill half a dozen children, or divert the train and kill a nun? See more of these unique scenes from the Quarantrain at Merullo's website. He also posted at thread at Bluesky explaining how he constructed the Quarantrain.  -via Everlasting Blort

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By JM McNab Published: November 13th, 2024

This week on the podcast we go over our reviews of the of the Corsair iCUE LINK 3500X RGB Case, ASUS ProArt LC 360 Liquid CPU Cooler, and Crucial Pro Overclocking Edition DDR5-6400 32GB Memory Kit. We also discuss the Ryzen 7 9800X3D completely selling out, Intel promising a "fix" for Arrow Lake, new Ryzen AI 365 / HX 370 performance, a stretchable display and more!

The post ThinkComputers Podcast #427 – Ryzen 7 9800X3D Sells Out, ProArt AiO, Arrow Lake Fix & More! appeared first on ThinkComputers.org.

Social media posts falsely claim that Elon Musk banned author Stephen King from X, the social media platform owned by Musk. The rumor that King was banned originated on a satirical website. King's X account remains active, and he used it on Nov. 13 to debunk the claim.

The post Musk Did Not Ban Stephen King from X, Contrary to Online Claims appeared first on FactCheck.org.

A threat actor affiliated with Hamas has expanded its malicious cyber operations beyond espionage to carry out disruptive attacks that exclusively target Israeli entities. The activity, linked to a group called WIRTE, has also targeted the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, Check Point said in an analysis. "The [Israel-Hamas] conflict has not disrupted the WIRTE's