[clug] The rights of Geeks

[Robert Edwards]

Matrix Reloaded wasn't all that good - somewhat forgettable in my opinion 
(except for the twist near the end). Wait for it to come out on DVD and/or 
delay watching it until the final installment comes out.

I suspect that the cinemas are under some obligation to show that they are 
taking steps to crack down on movie piracy. You were probably just their fall 
guy for this particular screening. They may even have picked you as a movie 
distributor lackey testing out their procedures.

Cheers,

Bob Edwards.

On Sat, 17 May 2003 03:40 am, Alastair D'Silva wrote:
> Firstly, my apologies in advance to those of you who do not thing this
> relevant.
>
> I just had an ugly experience, and am making moves to correct it. Below
> is a copy of what has been posted to Slashdot (with the HTML stripped).
>
> Vote with your feet people!
>
>
>
>
> Have you (as an adult) ever been disciminated against because of your
> tendancy towards geekdom? Well, I have, and am not happy about it. What
> can we do? We'll have to let these businesses know that this behaviour
> will not be tolerated! We are geeks, hear us roar!
>
> I just got home from the local cinema (Hoyts Woden in Canberra,
> Australia) after watching Matrix Reloaded, at least, that was the plan.
> After waiting in line for 2 hours, the manager approached me and said
> that my laptop was not permitted in the cinema, and that I would have to
> leave it in the car or leave in their possession, neither of which
> seemed like a reasonable choice as I had work stored on the laptop that
> was not committed to CVS yet. After some discussion, I stated that I'll
> leave my laptop in their care, provided that they provide me with a
> signed receipt stating that they accept full responsibility for it
> whilst in their care. Well, they gave me a receipt, but blatantly
> refused to take any responsibility for the machine. About this point,
> the hired muscle steps in and starts ranting on about how secure it
> would be (totally missing the point that I wanted someone responsible
> for my work if the machine is lost).
>
> Now, I was faced with two options - relent and potentially lose my work
> with no recourse, or ask for a refund. I chose the latter, which is
> where the problems started. I sat down on a couch and started coding,
> when the hired muscle came over and stated that I had to move to the
> foyer - fair enough, except that the manager had removed all the couches
> before asking him to move me!
>
> At this point, I was getting a bit frustrated, and told them that there
> was another laptop and 2 cameras inside anyway (since my friends had
> them, and in fact Hoyts staff had seen the cameras being used while we
> were waiting). The manager stated that he didn't care, and that he had
> done his job. The hired muscle had stated that there was no way a laptop
> could have got past him, and I offered to show it to him when my friends
> came out. He agreed, thus implying that there was no problem with me
> sitting in the foyer until the movie finished. However, a few minutes
> afterwards the manager spoke to the security guard again who then asked
> me to leave the cinema. When asked why, he replied it was because the
> staff had to leave and the cashboxes would be unattended (how do they
> protect them from those watching the movies then?).
>
> Well, I couldn't be bothered arguing, so I left, but could not shake the
> feeling that I was treated unfairly. The only way I can see to educate
> these businesses is with our feet, so I call on my fellow geeks to voice
> their frustrations and expose these businesses to the community at
> large. For those who wish to let this cinema know their opinion, email
> me (badhoyts at d-silva.org) and I'll print out and hand deliver the
> responses (after removing your email address of course).
>
> If there is enough response, I'll dedicate some time to setting up a
> website where we geeks can voice our criticisms and commendations to
> businesses.