network Related Roadmap

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1. Prado says

   Inside a smoky screening room.

   STUDIO HEAD
   So what do we want to call it?

   LACKEY
   I was thinking The Political Economy of Network Television: a Cautionary Tale.

   SH
   Nah. People might figure out it’s a political flick. Network sounds snappy.

   LACKEY
   You’re absolutely right, sir.

   SH
   Besides, if they’re paying attention they’ll figure it out anyway.

   Uproarious laughter from SH and LACKEY as scene fades to black.

   ***

   Apparently some people think the American moviegoing public will only drink politics if it’s mixed with Kool-Aid (Kool-Aid being espionage, gangsterism, or neat biopics). Not so here! Sidney Lumet presents Paddy Chayefsky’s screenplay the way it was meant to be: urgent, satirical, and spot-on. This one wears its political guts on the outside, dissecting the anatomy of network television and the relationship between it and the sensationalist acts of the ultraleft groups of the period.

   In this respect it bears an eerie resemblance to Fassbinder’s The Third Generation. But where Fassbinder targets the RAF, Lumet and Chayefsky take aim at the newsmakers. Person by person you see how the quest for ratings (and thus profits) warps people like worn-out gears.

   But be warned: comparing this film with the state of TV today may cause you to echo Howard Beale: “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

   February 2, 2010, 1:35 pm
2. Belzer says

   With all these reviews of this great film I only have one comment: can you believe that it has really happened? Back when this film debuted objective journalism and TV news was still a real option. There were still broadcast journalists. The idea that news would become just a sideshow of entertainment, propaganda, and misrepresenting to garner ratings was considered satire. But it really happened. Just turn on MSNBC. Sunday Morning political news. Reality TV shows. Forget the evening news – it doesn’t exist anymore. Barbara Walters? A shill on the View. Channel your inner Howard Beale – “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” Open your windows. Let me hear you in Queens!

   PS – One of the greatest American films ever. I’m not sure if it’s greater than “Citizen Kane” or “The Godfather” but it’s pretty darn good. Worth owning. Worth seeing again. Now more than ever.

   February 3, 2010, 1:00 am
3. Noriega says

   1976’s Network is the masterpiece of the underrated and under-awarded Sidney Lumet. Undoubtedly, the film is known for the crazed yet truthful Howard Beale “I’m mad as hell” speech which has since been turned into a slogan, punchline and cultural benchmark. Yet, Network reveals more truth about American society, the media and the TV-dominated generational gap between “old school” and “new school” than any other film. Network is set during an economic recession, record inflation, the end of Vietnam and the gestation of the Watergate scandal and Gerald Ford’s predictable yet costly pardoning of his former President Richard M. Nixon. In a time of political and social unrest (similar to now in certain extents), the media began its trajectory as the dominate source of information, entertainment and appeasement. Howard Beale (played beautifully by the late Australian actor Peter Finch who collected an Oscar posthumously) is a struggling news personality whose collection of firing, alcoholism and mental breakdown has resulted in an uncanny awareness of the effects of the media on politics, religion, culture, society, art and humanity. Beale initially sabotages himself but eventually finds himself as a tool of a money-devoted corporate boss Frank Hackett (played by Robert Duvall) and a media-obsessed Diana Christensen (played by Faye Dunaway) whose generational upbringing disconnects her from reality while distorting her view of life events as strategic media creativity.

   However, Beale’s effect on the American household viewer is far more powerful than they expected. Beale’s message honestly depicts the media for what it truly is… a lie. Beale’s message reveals the media has unparalleled control of the audience as if it were a God… one we are actually faithful to. The 21st Century media has widely expanded upon the media of the 1970s as information spreads faster and the world is much smaller. In today’s media, privacy does not exist, respect is an archaic terminology, humanity is an evening catchphrase, and nothing and no one is off limits. Before our eyes we have watched murder, death and tragedy as evening entertainment. We continually watch families destroy themselves (Kate and Jon Gosselin), we watch people kill themselves (Michael Jackson), exploit mediocrity (American Idol, America’s Got Talent, Rock Star) and use private quarrels as poster-child issues (Rihanna, Chris Brown). We televise God while invoking his “spirit” into unworthy men of fallibility such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robinson, Joel Osteen or Rick Warren.

   We confide in devices that keep us complicit as we log onto our gadgets to check the status of a friend in the bathroom or texting unlimited pointless information from one person to the next. Our movies, music and video games are kept violent and sexual enough to educate, stimulate and exacerbate our thoughts, desires and fantasies. We convert revolutions and good ideas into marketing campaigns, consumerism and globalization. We substitute reality with fiction as we simply get our information from a convenient source that tells us the propaganda we want to hear. Yet, right under our noses, we’re being bought, sold and auctioned by big business and their puppet politicians. As a human species, we’re dying internally without knowing or caring. Network captures this perfectly. And once Beale is given the real truth that there is no “America” or “democracy” and that nations of world are those of the Rockefellers, the DuPonts and the Gettys, Beale is sold into submission like the rest of us.

   Network is different in most films as it doesn’t just exposes not media or the wealthy. It exposes us, the people as complicit with the greatest theft of all… our humanity, our reasoning and our sanity. Howard Beale lost his, we must regain ours. Rarely is a film so relevant and timeless as Network. Don’t take it lightly at all because it is the truth in the most simplest of terms. Several of the concepts in Network are what Oliver Stone was attempting to portray with 1987’s Wall Street, 1991’s JFK and satirically with 1994’s Natural Born Killers. Network succeeds on all levels. The Truman Show, The Insider and Good Night and Good Luck all bear the Network mark.

   February 3, 2010, 1:02 pm
4. Quinteros says

   A bit dated only because its message has become more obvious, and recognized by more people – and yet, the media (especially the news) continues degeneration. Hence, it remains totally relevant today. The 2-disc edition is definitely preferred, and the feature-length commentary is excellent. Lumet’s directing of the characters was incredible, making them fully credible. Some characters seem a bit over the top – Ned Beatty’s Jensen in particular, but given some of the top CEO’s antics I’ve seen over the past couple of years, even his motivational speech to Finch doesn’t seem unlikely.
   Definitely to be highly recommended

   February 4, 2010, 1:28 am
5. Frontuto says

   When I first saw Paddy Chayefsky’s media splash film “Network,” I remember thinking how sad it would be should the news media, particularly the T.V. Broadcast News Media, ever fall so low as to turn the news into a media circus: i.e., news as Entertainment.
   That was over 30 years ago, and as folks say: That was then, this is now. These days it is difficult to tell the difference between news and entertainment. A few hours watching FOX news blurs the line between commentary and news, and Commentary is nothing more than vitriolic venom spewed onto the choir of self-same fear-mongering hate filled hoards.
   In other words, I love “Network,” because it helps to frame the weird world we live in and says something about the fools we have become.

   February 4, 2010, 1:49 pm
6. Agler says

   El servicio fue excelente, y el libro es muy bueno para lo que estoy estudiando, a parte de que es el libro escogido para la clase que cojo.

   February 5, 2010, 1:44 am
7. Ople says

   Every systems/ICT administrator must have a read at this book as I have not come across any similar book in its category. The authors attempt to be vendor neutral as much as possible and provide best practices from their professional expertise. I can definitely say that I have improved my efficiency in my role as ICT administrator after reading this book. Cheers.

   February 5, 2010, 1:01 pm
8. Ahlen says

   This book is written by a real SA, he covers every little mission that every SA have to do everyday !!! It’s surely useful for you, buy it.

   February 6, 2010, 1:42 am
9. Parks says

   If you ever have to write a backup/recovery guide, system maintenance guide, administrators guide, disaster recovery guide, training guide, quick start guide for users and administrators of enterprise IT systems in any organization large or small….this is it. And you’ll find it how and why they need these.
   Why writers, trainers and desk support staff will need it
   Credible, practical- Its a best-practice driven approach! Its an immediate pick me up, that you can read immediately when you are prepping for that migration project, system installation or change management project.
   Empathy – You’ll find stories, shortcuts, practical notes that you can use, discuss, reference immediately, so you can teach, speak and write with better confidence, and credibility about the subject matter for the people who actually need to suppport the systems everyday.
   You’ll keep it nearby and you’ll pick it up often. Its no doorstop. Its one of those books.

   February 6, 2010, 1:11 pm
10. Alarcon says

    If you’ve been or are planning to be in the hot seat when it comes to running a orginization’s computer systems than this book is for you. I read this after being an SA for 12 years for some of the biggest names in the business (IBM, EDS, NetApp, Sprint) and it still has information that’s useful to me. I’m no slouch but the fact is that most of us have learned how to do our jobs by feeling pain and working to make that pain go away. This book lets you learn from *others* pain, as well as taking a step back from the “I NEED IT NOW” we all deal with to look in a logical and comprehensive fashion at the many aspects of system administration. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

    I don’t agree with everything the authors say (I think DDNS is a decent system for most companies for instance), but informed discusion on these topics is a must even if you (as you should) come to your own conclusions. If you’re not an SA and you have not read this book chances are you’re not doing as good a job as you could be. Seriously.

    February 7, 2010, 1:15 am
11. Kleine says

    This review compares the following four books:
    Computer Networks by Peterson and Davie (P & D)
    Computer Networks by Tanenbaum
    Computer Networks by Comer / Internetworking with TCP/IP
    Computer Networking by Kurose and Ross (K & R)

    By far the best book in the list is “Computer Networking” by Kurose and Ross. This book covers all of the essential material that is in the other books but manages to do so in a relevant and entertaining way. This book is very up to date as seen by the release of the 5th Ed when the 4th Ed is barely two years old. There are lots of practical exercises using wireshark and the companion website is actually useful and relevant. The attitude of this book with regard to teaching networking concepts could be summed up as “try it out and see for yourself”. One interesting thing to note is that the socket programming example are all in Java.

    Next up is the Peterson and Davie book which covers everything that Kurose and Ross discuss but is slightly more mathematical in how it goes about things. There are a lot more numerical examples and defining of formulas in this book which is fine by me and in no way detracts from the book. Also the socket programming examples are in C which is a little more traditional. The points where this text loses ground to K & R is that it doesn’t have the practical application exercises that K & R has and it also doesn’t extend the basic networking theory that is covered to modern protocols like K & R.

    The two Comer books come next. Comer’s “Computer Networks” book is probably the most introductory book out of this whole list and is more of a survey of networking topics that doesn’t cover anything in any real depth. Still, this is an excellent book in that it is a quick clear read that is very lucid in its explanations and you can’t help feeling that you understand everything that is covered in the book. Comer’s TCP/IP book is the equivalent of the other authors’ computer network books and in that respect it is pretty average. It covers all of the relevant material and in a manner which is more than readable but that is all. There is nothing exceptional about the book which stands out from the rest.

    Last comes Tanenbaum’s book from the author who is probably most famous for his OS books. This is probably the most technical and detailed of the books with lots of sample C code belying is experience with operating systems and their network stack code. The weak point of this book is that all of the code and technical minutia might prevent the reader from seeing the forest for the trees. Unless you are trying to learn how to program your own network stack for a Unix/Linux system, then I would get either the K & R book or the P & D book to learn networking for the first time. This book would best be served as a reference in which case the technical nature of the book becomes a benefit rather than detracting from the text.

    February 7, 2010, 1:56 pm
12. Koon says

    I was made to read this book in Computer networks course. At first it was a difficult read but after a few times I got used to author’s style. This book is very detailed on Network and Transport layers specially congestion control. I realize that most networking professionals miss that nitty gritty of the subject as they learn things from very applied side.

    I highly recommend this book for students and professionals alike.

    February 8, 2010, 1:31 am
13. Heller says

    This book is fantastic and I purchased it from the seller as listed. It was in great shape and was received quickly. Go Amazon!

    February 8, 2010, 1:00 pm

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