it's terrifying to me all the medical cases that cannot be adequately treated with the current state of medicine.

Like the first line says, he is probably the least known famous director. That is, he is not an activist and not flashy, doesn't make a lot of movies, and the general public simply doesn't know about him. But all the other movie directors and famous actors know him and kind of idolize him.

When Thin Red Line came out in 1998 he hadn't done a movie since 1978 (Days of Heaven) and yet he snagged all the famous actors to play in it: Sean Penn, Jim Caviezel (though he wasn't as famous then), George Clooney, Jared Leto, Nick Nolte, John Travolta and others. It's like they were tripping over themselves to be in his film.

But I can't fault the general public for not knowing him either. His movies are more "artsy" so he is like like an American version of Andrey Tarkovsky -- you have to really be in the mood for his movies, like watching Stalker or Mirror by Tarkovsky.

The guy to go to if you want an awful boring movie

Working for a great company in its heyday is a gift - one that I wish for everyone. Stories like this are a comfort when the industry is near its nadir, and reminder that the industry moves in cycles, and all glory fades. I got my turn at Facebook in 2010. A bunch of times I'd see a name I'd recognize pop up in internal discussions: an esteemed classmate or colleague had joined, and you knew with all this talent concentrating in one place, good things were to come.

I recently replaced all my kitchen appliances with matching mid-scale Samsung-branded ones. The first thing I did after powering them on for the first time was disable the WiFi. For this reason.

Also, it's entirely unclear to me why I need WiFi or a remote server for my dishwasher or refrigerator in the first place. What possible value-add is there?

I hope we have the compassion as a society to get to the point where I can say, "If I am unable to recognize my children, please kill me." At that point I would have died regardless of the condition of my body.

On the subject of toasters, if you want one that lasts then grab an old toastmaster or Sunbeam (the kind with the chrome sides) and spend a weekend doing a deep clean. They are held together with screws, not bent over tabs. You might be up against decades of baked on grease, so you'll have to break out the sodium hydroxide. You should probably replace the asbestos cord with a rubber one too. The toaster will then last the remainder of your life.

The main downside is that the slots are usually to narrow for bagels.

There aren't any infinite number of old toasters out there, but there's enough out there for everyone who wants to do the above.

How were you able to stand as an expert witness when you have a personal relationship with the plaintiff? I don’t know the specifics of the law in Illinois, but my understanding is that that would generally be a disqualifying conflict of interest.