mr100percent's New Writeups

Brainstorming A Good Day to Die Hard (idea)

2013-02-17T07:08:42Z

Note: this contains spoilers. This is how I imagine the producers dreamed up the story.

Interior , conference room, Dune Entertainment studios, December 2011

CEO : All right fellas, action movies are the new blockbusters. What can you make?

Flunky 1: Well, we have the movie rights to several franchises; X-Men, X-Files, Avatar, The A-Team, Die Hardâ

CEO: Yes! Die Hard! I love that John McClane! He's your normal guy who winds up in the middle of trouble every time.

Writer: Right, the reluctant hero. That's what made him stand out over the other action heroes.

Flunky 2: Well sir, James Bond is also coming out next year, maybe we should look into other genres. We've been making a lot of cash off of horror flicks...

CEO: No way! We need a white American action hero. None of this James Bond British stuff, he's like 50. Audiences love seeing a young badass American hero kill dozens of bad guys. What can we do…

Constitution of Oman (idea)

2011-10-20T07:15:26Z

Oman has been a sultanate ruled by a Sultan since the 18th century. Unlike many other countries in the region, it never became a British colony. In 1970, Qaboos bin Said Al-Said overthrew the restrictive rule of his father; he has ruled as sultan ever since. He embarked on an extensive modernization program for the country along with a moderate foreign policy that kept them on good terms with all Middle Eastern countries. The Arab Spring of 2010-2011 led to widespread protests for greater political rights, an end to corruption, and economic benefits. In February and March 2011, in response to protester demands, Sultan Qaboos reshuffled his cabinet, pledged to create more government jobs, and promised to implement economic and political reforms, such as granting legislative and regulatory powers to the Council of Oman (including constitutional amendments).

{ Adopted on: 6 Nov 1996 }
{ Adopted by: Royal Decree No. 101/96, issued on 6 Nov 1996 by Qaboos Bin Said, Sultan of Oman }
{

…

Eid Mubarak (idea)

2011-02-04T09:51:02Z

Eid is the name for the two Muslim holidays; Eid ul-Adha and Eid ul-Fitr. "Eid Mubarak" is a common phrase among Muslims; it means "(Have a) Blessed Eid" You don't have to be Muslim to wish someone "Eid Mubarak," and is a great way to meet new people during the holidays.

Often this is accompanied by a handshake, or more often a special Eid hug; where you hug the person and lean to the right, then hug again while leaning to the left side and then the right side again, all while not really letting go.

Metaphorical Waterskiing (idea)

2010-03-26T05:20:50Z

"I'm going to waterski someday...just as soon as I can mentally separate it from being dragged by a boat." --Rita Rudner

Waterskiing is a difficult sport I only tried once. You put on a large pair of skiis and float in the water behind a motorboat while holding onto a long cord. The boat starts to accelerate and you get pulled by a boat through the water. If you position yourself right, you will start to rise out over the water. This is good because once you start getting speed, the water puts tremendous friction on you and the surface becomes hard as you hit it at velocity. If you don't position yourself right, you won't rise and will instead be yanked very hard through the water, which starts slamming you in the face. Seconds into it, if your boatsmen is really trying to floor it quickly, you'll be under a real strain. When I did it, it felt like my arms were going to be dislocated if I continued to hold on, since the water wouldn't let me cut through it so easily. Eventually I had to…

iPhone (thing)

2009-01-19T19:14:49Z

I'd note that the above writeups covered some legitimate complaints about the iPhone, although the 2.0 and 3.0 software upgrades eliminated many if not most of their gripes, and the iPhone 3G and 3G S added even more features.

The iPhone is a smartphone released by Apple Inc in 2007 following the runaway success of the iPod line. Steve Jobs remarked in the 2007 Macworld keynote that their surveys showed the vast majority (>80%) of iPod owners also owned a cell phone, and decided to see if they could compete in that market.

Running a modified stripped-down version of OS X, the iPhone is known for several features not before seen in a device, such as a Multitouch interface, allowing the screen to detect multiple points of tapping at once. The advantage of this is already apparent in some of its original apps, such as pinching to zoom in and out of photos and Google Maps. It also came with "30 new patented features" such as an accelerometer to detect whether the iPhone was…

US-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement (thing)

2008-12-27T19:36:38Z

As of 2008, the US (and UK) is stuck. The UN Security Council, as part of Resolution 1770, had approved of Coalition forces in Iraq only until the end of 2008, and after which time the authorization ends. It was expected that the US and Iraqi governments would create some sort of treaty that gave the framework for foreign troops to be present. The US has numerous treaties in place with foreign governments to keep military personnel in their country, from Germany to Japan to South Korea, as well as Afghanistan more recently.

Such a treaty is known as a Status of Forces Agreement, and it provides legal authority for US forces to operate within a country and its limitations. Such an agreement would include the rights of the governments and the rights of the forces, such as whether they have the authority to operate bases, can be tried in domestic courts or whether they have the authority to kick down doors, search citizens or conduct arrests. For US troops to operate without an…