Brave New World – the Book

Brave New World by Aldus Huxley was part of my high school curriculum so I was forced to read it in my youth.   It is more than 30 years since I read Brave New World and such was the impression upon me that I remember it surprisingly well till this day.  I also remember it being one of the hardest books to get into as I struggled with the first chapter or so trying to follow multiple conversations of the different characters being introduced into the story.

Once into the book I was fascinated by the dystopia Huxley described where on surface all the world problems had been solved and finally everyone was happy.  The scariest thing about this dystopia was that it seemed to work and there was no opposition to it nor could one develop.

A world where everyone belonged to everyone and nobody belonged to anybody. This was achieved by removing the function procreation from individuals and assigning it to the state.  Babies are no longer born but genetically engineered and decanted from test tubes. 

The practice of eugenics and cloning is used to create a caste system with members naturally predisposed to their role in society and re-enforced further by conditioning including constant subliminal instructions from birth to be happy with their role.

Sexual promiscuity is promoted and even taught to young children.  Forming long term relationships is frowned upon and considered unhealthy.  Emotions are kept under control with voluntary doses of Soma drug to modulate feelings.    There is even a new religion with Henry Ford as the figurehead admired as the father of modern mass production.

Brave New World – the Movie

I recently became aware that a 1998 movie had been made and was very curious to see it.  I finally got a copy and just finished watching it.  I found it generally disappointing as it failed to present the same believable model of the dystopia I had read in the book.

Visually the movie was disappointing and unconvincing.   The movie is meant to be set far in the future after the death of Ford and devastating World Wars that resulted in the setting up of a world government, but the technology shown was at best contemporary and in many cases already dated.

The clothing was also very dated with a mix of contemporary and retro 60s.   In one scene the World Controller had on a bright orange suit with huge chunky orange beads and would have looked in place on a set for Austin Powers.

The movie only superficially covered the caste system and neglected the cloning aspect among the lower castes.   At one point in the movie a Delta Tea lady is asked if she is happy to be a Delta and she confirms she is using a programmed response from her conditioning.   To my mind she looked far too normal and unconvincing compared to glazed eyed moronic Delta I expected to see.

There were changes to the characters and story line also that I think detracted from the believability.

In the book Bernard is socially inapt but desperately wants fit in.  He is physically shorter than other Alpha plus caste members and there are rumours that alcohol was accidently administered to his test tube this being a method employed to stunt the growth of Epsilons. 

The rivalry between Bernard and his boss culminating in a plot to kill Bernard using a reconditioned Delta are additions not found in the book.  While this made the characters far more human by our standards they are inconsistent with the socially conditioned members of Brave New World where such personal rivalry and aggression would be alien concepts.  

In my opinion there is too much missing from the movie and it fails to deliver the believable vision of a dystopia that Huxley wanted to warn us about.   I suggest skipping the movie which is very forgettable and reading the book.

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Firstly I am very happy with Attractor Genie but was not overly impressed with their support response.  They tried to help but just did not seem to understand my questions.

I had three questions and created a separate ticket for each.

Question 1 : Application Bug (very minor) – Reminder function display
Question 2 : New Functionality request – add additional questions to Daily Journal
Question 3 : Windows Support – Subliminal application and dual monitor extended desktop

If you read the descriptions below you will see that these are all very minor concerns and when I think about it  THIS IS ALL I HAVE FOUND after using the application for a month then I have to conclude that Attractor Genie is VERY GOOD.   I find more issues with most of the “big name” applications where they have hundreds of developers.

Question 1 : Application Bug (very minor) – Reminder function display

I reported what is a real bug with the Reminder function.  If you create a reminder with multiple lines that extend down below the default displayed onscreen you cannot scroll to read them despite there being a scroll bar.  It is disabled and “greyed out”.    The reminder function does not support hyper links so you cannot have a link to open the fully txt from another source.  You also cannot click to open the original reminder to view in full.

Now if the Reminder function only allowed you to input the same number of lines it displays I would have just accepted this as a limitation but because it allows you to enter more that it displays it can be considered a bug. 

The response from support was to send me this asking if mine worked the same.

I’ve just setup a reminder on my PC
Here’s what happens on my PC
http://i42.tinypic.com/2wdpowm.jpg

Yes it would work that way on mine also but had they tested it with more than 4 lines they might have noticed the problem also.  I have created the same test with 10 lines to demonstrate and only 7 are displayed.

 
The scroll bar to the right does not work

Question 2 : New Functionality request – add additional questions to Daily Journal

In the daily journal there is a questions tab.   There you will find about 40 categories of questions with each category containing a number of pre-written questions designed to prompt you to think further about topics you are concerned about.  I think this is a great resource that I will write more about later.

My question to support was can I add my own questions.   My reason for wanted to do so is that I am current doing another online course that provides me with daily questions and I thought it would be great to use Attractor Genie rather than print off the question sheet and physically write the answers as they course suggests. 

I also asked about the data structure of Attractor Genie thinking I might be able to edit the files and insert my own question category.

This is not a bug with the Attractor Genie application but rather a request for a new functionality in future updates. 

Question 3 : Windows Support – Subliminal application and dual monitor extended desktop

I asked about the subliminal application and support for dual monitor extended desk top configurations explaining that it only seemed to work on the primary monitor (1) and I wanted the subliminal messages to display on the second monitor (2).  The response was to show me what the working subliminal screen should look like and some irrelevant suggestions. 

Subliminal
This is how it would like:
http://i44.tinypic.com/osxx8w.jpg

If you don’t see all parts of the Subliminal Generator It means
that you are not using “a native resolution” on your PC  Screen.

Please change the screen resolution(set it to 1024×768) and see
If anything changes.

Yes this is what it looked like for me but had nothing to do with my question.  

I would have accepted a response that they did not support dual monitor extended desk top configuration.   I have since resolved this problem and It turns out that it is a Windows function and nothing at all to do with Attractor Genie.

I am running vista on a notebook with a second monitor attached and using the extended screen option.   To set this up you right click the desktop and select “Personalize” and then “Display Settings”.  It does not give you the option there to change the primary monitor.

When I run the subliminal application from Attractor genie it only displays on the first monitor (the smaller notebook screen) which is not the primary one I use.   Therefore it was not much use to me as at the very best I would only pick it up in my peripheral vision.

In what can only now be called serendipity my display went crazy for no apparent reason with my display rotated.  I had no idea what was happening but it forced me to delve deeper into the options. 

I actually found that for some reason my screen rotation had changed under “Graphics Options” “Rotation”   You get there by a Right Click on the desktop and not via “Personalize” where I had been looking.  I fixed the rotation but also noticed “Graphics Properties” and what do you know…It gives you the option to specify the primary monitor.    

Not only has this fixed my Attractor Genie subliminal application (have it running now – works perfectly) but it has also fixed some other minor irritations with the dual screen extended monitor configuration.  It’s wonderful now.   The only thing is that I had to physically rearrange my desk as the notebook now needs to sit off to my right.  

I suppose all of this would not make any sense to anyone that has not seen the extended desktop working.

While assisting people wanting to run the subliminal application with dual monitor configurations is probably beyond the scope of Attractor Genie support I invite them to take this information and add it to their knowledge base as it might assist other attractor genie users in the future.

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The Attractor Genie Videos

These are instructional videos to get you started and I do recommend them.  They do sound a little amateurish in production (they are really just a voice over with a guy giving a demo on how to use Attractor Genie) but do give you the information you really need to get started.   They often refer you to the manual for more detailed information.

The Attractor Genie Manual

Now I have to say that their manual is particularly good to help you get started.   Many applications I have purchased in the past include a manual that does not really tell you anything.  I will give the Attractor Genie top marks for the manual and recommend anyone who gets Attractor Genie to read it. 

The Attractor Genie Support

My first experiences with contacting support have been a little disappointing. It’s not that support was rude or initially failed to respond.  They did get back to me within the specified time period with responses to my questions.   What is disappointing is that while they tried to help they did seem to really understand my questions.  See my next post My support Questions to Attractor Genie

 Conclusion

It’s a great application which I continue to use on a daily basis. 

The documentation and tutorials are comprehensive and easy to follow.  The support response was timely and friendly and probably great for people that need help on how use the program but not as technical as I needed.  I am sure that if ever I encountered a more serious problem it would be referred to a more technical resource so I am not at all concerned.

I highly recommend the Attractor Genie Application to Anyone

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