darkowl72 and Angela Flores4 thanks to you both for the advice 👍 .
I was out for most of the day yesterday, and things were acting up when I finally got back. It seems to be working fine again now, though.
Next time it starts acting glitchy, I’ll try a clean reinstall of the drivers. I'm just not sure which one I should tackle first—the Intel Ethernet Controller or the 802.11b/g WLAN? Also, if I uninstall them, won't I need an active internet connection to get them reinstalled?
I'm having some trouble with the Wi-Fi on my laptop, which is a Dell Latitude E6410.
The issue first popped up yesterday. I booted up the system and went to get online, only to notice a little exclamation mark on the internet access icon with a "limited connectivity" message. Usually, this isn't a big deal—it happens maybe once a month at most. A quick modem reset typically fixes everything. But this time, the exclamation mark wouldn't budge. I even restarted the laptop, hoping for a miracle, but that icon stayed right there.
I ran the built-in troubleshooter, but after it finished searching, it found nothing. Once it was done, the internet access icon showed a red "X," and none of my available connections appeared in the list.
I tried restarting both the modem and the laptop again, but I still saw that crossed-out icon immediately after booting up. The Wi-Fi LED light was on, showing it should be working fine. I tried toggling the physical switch off and back on, but nothing happened. I waited a bit and tried again—still nothing. Even after another laptop restart, the switch seemed unresponsive. No matter how many times I pressed it, the Wi-Fi simply wouldn't turn on. When I checked the settings in the OS, the option to enable Wi-Fi wasn't even visible. I read somewhere that you could trigger it using Fn + F2 on some models, but that didn't work for me either.
Eventually, I got a bit frustrated and started frantically restarting the laptop while repeatedly hitting the external Wi-Fi switch during the boot sequence. On the fifth restart, as the system was coming up, I hit the switch and it actually worked! Once the OS fully loaded, I had a normal connection and everything functioned perfectly.
I stayed online for about an hour and a half before it started acting up again. That exclamation mark reappeared with the "limited internet access" warning. I had to head out anyway, so I just shut it down and left the headache for later. Today, I turned it back on, and that damn exclamation mark is staring at me again. This time, however, a simple laptop restart fixed everything. For now...
Could someone please offer some advice or a potential fix? I have no idea why this suddenly started glitching out. Even though it's working now, I'm nervous about when it might fail again, especially if I need to handle something urgent for work or college. I am almost 100% certain the modem is fine and the issue lies with the Wi-Fi controller in the laptop. My network adapters are an Intel Ethernet Controller and a Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN. I'm not sure which one is causing the headache.
While that first trailer made it look like Agent 47 was the main villain out to get our lead protagonist, the new trailer flips the script. It actually shows him trying to help her and protect her from the people hunting them both. On the flip side, the character played by Zachary Quinto is being shown in a completely different light now. He comes across as the guy who initially seemed like the good guy stepping in to shield our heroine, but he’s clearly bad to the bone and just wants to hand her over to his bosses for their experiments.
It feels almost surreal. I just started rewatching the series from season one after about a ten-year break, and right on cue, news breaks that they’re starting production on new seasons 🙂. I am absolutely thrilled. I can't wait to follow more adventures with Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.
20th Century Studios has dropped a fresh international poster for their upcoming high-octane video game adaptation, Hitman: Agent 47.
This marks the second attempt to bring the hit Hitman video game to the big screen. The first time it was Justified and Deadwood star Timothy Olyphant had the title role, but this time we'll see Homeland star Rupert Friend as the lethal assassin.
He'll be starring alongside Hannah Ware, Zachary Quinto, Ciarán Hinds and Thomas Kretschmann. Aleksander Bach is stepping in to direct, working from a script by Skip Woods and Michael Finch.
The first international poster - "Your Number is up"
Hitman: Agent 47 TRAILER (2015) Rupert Friend Action Movie HD
Hitman: Agent 47 centers on an elite assassin who was genetically engineered from conception to be the perfect killing machine, and is known only by the last two digits on the barcode tattooed on the back of his neck. He is the culmination of decades of research – and forty-six earlier agent clones -- endowing him with unprecedented strength, speed, stamina and intelligence. His latest target is a mega-corporation that plans to unlock the secret of Agent 47’s past to create an army of killers whose powers surpass even his own. Teaming up with a young woman who may hold the secret to overcoming their powerful and clandestine enemies, 47 confronts stunning revelations about his own origins and squares off in an epic battle with his deadliest foe.
I finally sat down and watched Predators recently, mostly because I was stuck in bed with a fever. I actually went looking for his specific thread on the forum to share my thoughts, but I couldn't find 😢 . Since this topic popped up so perfectly, I’ll just leave my impressions right here.
In short, the movie left me with more positive than negative vibes. I can't quite tell if that's because Nimród Antal played directly to the fans by making Predators feel so much like Predator 1, or if I simply enjoyed the film as its own standalone piece. I suspect it's the former, but don't get me wrong—that isn't a bad thing. If they had to lean into the essence of Predator 1, they executed it quite well, and I'm happy with the result because it transported me back to when I first saw Predator 1. You know that feeling when you watch a great movie for the first time and you almost feel a sense of loss once that initial magic wears off? That's exactly what Predators gave me: a chance to relive that youthful magic, just in a slightly different way.
By today's standards, the story was actually quite solid. A handful of individuals from various military branches and social statuses on Earth are abducted and dropped onto another planet that serves as a hunting ground for Predators. My only real complaint is that the planet looked a little too much like Earth. Honestly, the only obvious difference we saw was that one scene where the characters pushed through the jungle on a cliffside and spotted strange objects in the sky. I wish they had used a bit more imagination to make this planet feel distinct from our own jungles while still keeping it somewhat recognizable. Then again, I suppose you could argue the Predators shaped the planet to look like the home worlds of the species they hunt.
It felt a bit silly to me that the Predators just drop their subjects from ships in a semi-conscious state. I mean, what's the point of going through the trouble of transporting absolute bad-asses—like the kind of guy Schwarzenegger was in the first film—to this planet if they might just die because a 😁 fails to open during a jump?
The one thing that truly disappointed me was Laurence Fishburne's character. When he shows up, revealing himself with modified Predator gear and explaining how he's survived ten seasons of hunting and personally taken down two Predators, you realize he's an absolute legend who isn't messing around. He's clearly someone who will take down even more Predators before the credits roll. Usually, in almost any film featuring Laurence Fishburne, he plays the cool, commanding type (The Matrix trilogy, Event Horizon, and the Assault on Precinct 13 remake come to mind as prime examples). Yet here, his character is reduced to a crazed cannibal who gets patheticially killed by a Predator in the very next scene. WTF?!? WTF?!? 😲 . I would have much rather seen him in the lead hero role instead of Adrien Brody. In fact, since Fishburne is known for playing heroic icons and Adrien Brody is great at playing unstable characters, I don't understand why they didn't just swap the roles 🤔. I think the movie would have been much stronger if they had done the opposite.
The plot twist involving Dr. Edwin (Topher Grace) being a manic killer felt completely unnecessary. We have this whole lineup of hardened soldiers, mobsters, cartel members, and assassins, and yet nobody raises an eyebrow at the nice, polite doctor? It's like no one thought, "Hey, this guy definitely looks suspicious." Those kinds of twists only work if you're trying to surprise kids or the most gullible people in America.
Also, the whole subplot about the big and small Predators having some sort of blood feud was a bit of an eyesore for me. There's zero backstory or even a hint provided to explain it. They just throw it at us: big Predators, small Predators, blood feud. That's it. You're just expected to accept it. I guess they wanted to leave a little mystery so our imaginations could fill in the gaps. I assume that just like human races on Earth, there are different Predator subspecies. And since we know Predators live in clans, it's easy to assume what happens when clans clash—blood feuds, clan wars, and all that.
I really appreciated the nod to the original when Isabella (Alice Braga) tells the group about the legends of the Predator. She mentions the story of a lone special forces survivor whose entire unit was wiped out by a single Predator, yet he managed to outsmart and kill it in the end. The special effects hit the mark and the acting is solid. That is, aside from the previously mentioned instances where I felt Adrien Brody and Laurence Fishburne weren't quite the right fit for their specific roles.
My final rating for the film is a satisfying 7/10.
Regarding the original Predator, I don't have much to add other than saying it is one of my all-time favorites. It serves as constant inspiration whenever I want to channel some of Schwarzenegger's best quotes 😁.
Predator 2 worked quite well as a sequel. While I was initially a bit disappointed that we didn't follow Schwarzenegger and his fight against the Predators—much like how we didn't follow Weaver and her struggle against the Aliens—that feeling quickly faded thanks to Glover's charismatic performance. I also loved the concept of shifting the setting from the jungle to an urban environment. The characters are well-developed and convincingly portrayed, the action is top-notch, and it blends perfectly with the tension. Plus, you get Bill Paxton delivering his iconic "Come on motherfucker. Let's Dance." to the Predator right before the end 🙏.
I have nothing to say regarding the Alien vs. Predator films ☕.
After just one sequel from 2007 starring Timothy Olyphant, production is finally gearing up for a reboot of one of the most iconic hitmen ever created by the gaming industry. The film will be helmed by commercial director Aleksander Bach, marking his first major feature film. The screenplay is being handled by Mike Finch and Skip Woods. Timothy Olyphant won't be returning as the Silent Assassin; he actually mentioned that the only reason he took on the original 2007 film was to cover the costs of his new house. Instead, the lead role goes to Paul Walker, the actor we all know from Fast & Furious. Filming kicks off this summer, with locations set in Berlin and Singapore.
Jeremy Roberts said:I suppose I could argue that the planet just doesn't like us—that everything living on it is basically out to get us—and honestly, looking at things today, I might be right.😁 One thing really bugged me, though. In a survival kit from a thousand years in the future, a kid would probably just end up with two knives and a "good luck" note.😕 Where are the lasers? The pulse weapons? Anything high-tech at all?🙂
Based on the synopsis I read and what I saw in the trailer, this looks like it could really deliver. These days, finding a solid sci-fi flick that actually has some emotional depth is a rare treat. Most high-budget garbage coming out of Hollywood just misses the mark. We'll see how it plays out.
By the way, does anyone know which soundtrack is playing in the trailer? 🙂.
Daniel Palmer22 said:For those interested, an English version came out under the title "Land Mine." Not sure if it ever hit the mainstream publishers here. http://www.scribd.com/doc/84121539/Alef-04
Man, I wish I had known this a day before I headed out to the book fair.
nimblemarlin6 said:It’s a genuinely great, deeply human film—one that really pushes for tolerance, peace, and just plain old understanding. I’ve always felt the title was actually meant to be "My Enemy"—you know, more of a poetic take on it. That kind of title makes way more sense to me, since the whole subplot about the mine is really just a secondary thing anyway.
That is exactly what I thought too. I always assumed the movie was titled "My Enemy." It never even occurred to me that the word "mine" referred to an actual mine. The action in the mine only happens in the final few minutes. The entire plot is actually about two enemies building a connection so they can survive together on a hostile planet.
By the way, I don't think anyone else has realized that the movie is based on the book of the same name by Barry B. Longyear. That work won the Nebula in 1979, and followed that up with a Hugo in 1980.
I wasn't really feeling this movie. To be honest, I think it would have worked much better if it hadn't been such a blatant rip-off of a far superior, darker film— The Bunker For anyone interested, here is the trailer— The Bunker Trailer
I went through the exact same thing last year when I transferred universities. At my first school, everyone was incredibly welcoming. I met about 90% of the people on my very first day, and honestly, I didn't even have friends that great back in middle or high school. We all hang out, go out together, and see each other constantly since our campuses are close by. My experience at this second school has been a complete 180. Everyone stays tucked away in their little cliques and doesn't bother acknowledging anyone from the outside. People here are obsessed with nothing but academics—just endless exams, projects, and presentations. Now that I'm in my second year, those small groups are still just as tight-knit while I remain on my own. I actually met a guy this year who transferred from a university in San Francisco to one here in Washington, D.C., and he agreed that the crowd at this school is totally weird and closed off. He ended up dropping out this year. Personally, I don't mind being solo at school. I'm here for the education, which is what matters most to me. As far as social life goes, thank God I have plenty of friends to grab drinks or hang out with outside of class. I have zero interest in dealing with the antisocial crowd on campus. I don't need stuck-up people who refuse to interact with anyone outside their tiny circle to be my friends anyway.
Christian Taylor3 said:Look, this isn't The Council Voice, so you can pretty much say whatever you want—like, "What the hell does it matter if he's some one-eyed Eskimo with erectile dysfunction?" Unless you actually are an Eskimo, in which case, my bad, I apologize.
Secondly, I wasn't even saying the movie was bad, I was just expressing how tired I am of seeing Americans front and center as heroes, whether it's in a production from China, Kyrgyzstan, Uruguay, or whatever tenth country decides to make them the lead.
Personally, I think your take is kind of ridiculous, especially since we're talking about a movie that's 100% a Chinese production. But fine, let's move past that—just tell me, did an American like Gene líng shí san chai actually save the world? 😁
I'll be sure to ask the Inuit nicely🙂 . I'm not Inuit, but acting as their spokesperson, I accept your apology and will pass it along. I'm certain they can find it in their hearts to forgive you, even though some were already picturing you on a torture rack🙂 .
Christian Taylor3 said:Look, this isn't The Council Voice, so you can pretty much say whatever you want—like, "What the hell does it matter if he's some one-eyed Eskimo with erectile dysfunction?" Unless you actually are an Eskimo, in which case, my bad, I apologize.
Secondly, I wasn't even saying the movie was bad, I was just expressing how tired I am of seeing Americans front and center as heroes, whether it's in a production from China, Kyrgyzstan, Uruguay, or whatever tenth country decides to make them the lead.
Personally, I think your take is kind of ridiculous, especially since we're talking about a movie that's 100% a Chinese production. But fine, let's move past that—just tell me, did an American like Gene líng shí san chai actually save the world? 😁
My opinion on your opinion about my opinion regarding my view of the film is that we simply disagree on certain perspectives and facts. Let's just leave it at that🙂 .
Christian Taylor3 said:What on earth does it have to do with the fact that he’s just some one-eyed Eskimo with ED? Seriously, once again, we're looking at a Hollywood production where they basically forced him to play an American just to sell this thing—which, by the way, is supposedly the most expensive movie in the history of Hollywood.
The director pointed out that his greatest, albeit difficult, achievement in the movie was crafting John Miller, noting that "having a character like this—a foreigner, a drifter, almost a thug—turn into a hero who saves the lives of Americans... that has never happened in Hollywood, and I honestly don't see it happening again anytime soon."
First off, maybe dial back the colorful vocabulary a bit before you get yourself arrested. Second, I never claimed the movie was bad. I just shared my opinion. I'm honestly tired of seeing Americans cast as the main heroes in everything from foreign productions to indie flicks from halfway across the world. Aside from that, the film is perfectly fine. I watched it today. It didn't blow my mind, but it didn't leave a bad taste in my mouth either. It's a solid watch.
Just watched this for the first time today. It's a fantastic film—the plot, the acting, the direction, even the soundtrack all come together perfectly. The only tragedy is Brandon Lee 😢.
