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1995-10-09
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The Internet MovieDatabase (IMDB)
=================================
IMPORTANT:
The format of the database has changed since the last distribution on the
MP CD. If you may search for a film you should enter the release year after
the title. If you don't know the year use the substring search!
If you have used MovieMUI before, please make sure to change the dbs-path
in MovieMUI's path preferences or delete the file "MovieMUI.prefs" in
"ENV:mui/" and "ENVARC:mui/". Otherwise the database will be searched on
your harddisc instead of the Meeting Pearls III CD!
1. Was is the Internet MovieDatabase?
=====================================
"This is one of the most comprehensive archives of movie information in the
world."
Empire, December '94 (the UK's leading film magazine)
"Choice spot...the premier movie database."
Dana Kennedy, Entertainment Weekly magazine (Sept. 23, 1994)
"Best place to pick a video...filled with all the information you'd ever
want - and a whole lot you'd never want - to know about motion pictures."
Seth Godin, Computer Life magazine (November 1994)
"A great example of how freely available information can be put to good
use if handled correctly."
Steve Brown, The Internet via Mosaic and World Wide Web
"Really slick."
Glossbrenner & Glossbrenner, Internet Slick Tricks.
"Not even the leading movie reference books can give you the kind of
information, sliced so many different ways, that you can get from a
computer."
Alfred Glossbrenner, Internet 101: A College Student's Guide
The movie database is an international volunteer effort coordinated via the
USENET newsgroup rec.arts.movies. The objective of the database is to
provide useful and up to date movie information *freely* available on-line,
across as many systems and platforms as possible.
It currently covers over 57,000 movies with over 470,000 filmography
entries and is expanding continuously.
The database includes filmographies for actors, directors, writers,
composers, cinematographers, editors, production designers, costume
designers and producers; plot summaries; character names; movie ratings;
year of release; running times; movie trivia; quotes; goofs; soundtracks;
personal trivia; alternative names; certificates; color information;
country of production; genres; production companies; sound mix; reference
literature; filming locations; sequel/remake information; release dates;
advertising tag lines; detailed technical data; and Academy Award
information.
Several thousand of the movies are covered completely from the major actors
to the minor bit players.
In their ASCII form, the source datafiles currently occupy about 61Mb of
disk-space. All the information comes from the users of the database so
please continue to support it and help it to grow.
2. The Internet MovieDatabase on the Meeting Pearls III CD
==========================================================
The licence of the Internet MovieDatabase prohibits distribution of the
database on CD-ROM without written permission (see below). But as the
Meeting Pearls is a "non-profit"-project, it was possible to obtain such an
extraordinary permission. Now, for the first time, it is possible to offer
Amiga users without Internet access, the possibility to use this database.
Users with only little harddisk-capacity will also benefit from this CD.
However, using the database directly off the CD, will slow down the
information retrieval time significantly. This is due to the fact that the
access time of a harddisk is several times faster than the access time of a
CD ROM. If you want to use the MovieDatabase quite often, I suggest to
copy all files to your harddisk.
3. Requirements
===============
MovieMUI should run on every Amiga with Kickstart 2.0 or higher being
installed (Of course you need to have Stefan Stuntz's Magic-User-Interface
"MUI" as well - see docs). A fast processor and a fast harddisk (see
above) would also be very handy, if the time for data look-up is to be kept
to a minimum.
4. Installation
===============
As already pointed out in 2, MovieMUI - like most programs on Meeting
Pearls III - can be used directly off the CD. However, I recommend (if
possible) to copy the database on your harddisk (needs about 45 MByte) for
speed reasons. The database access has been optimzed for harddisk access
and not for CD-ROM access (a new version that will solve this problem, will
be released early next year). Simply copy all files, except those in the
distribution-directory, to your harddisk.
You might have to adjust the pathnames in MovieMUI's path-preferences to
tell MovieMUI where to find the database files. This is especially
neccessary, when you have formerly used MovieMUI. Deleting the file
"MovieMUI.prefs" in "ENV:mui/" and "ENVARC:mui/" will do the same thing.
If you want to make use of the weekly diff-files to keep your MovieDatabase
up-to-date, you'll have to make a "full-installation" (please refer to the
docs where to get those diff-files).
The database-files used for this CD, reflect the state of the Internet
MovieDatabase on October 06th 1995. In order to get your Installation
up-to-date you can either get more recent listfiles, or *all* diff-files
starting with "diffs-951013.tar.gz" (or "imdb-diffs-951013.lha"). These
diff-files can be applied to the listfiles with the program "ApplyDiffs"
from the "tools"-directory. Please refer to the ApplyDiffs-Readme-file for
more information.
5. Using the MovieDatabase
==========================
I recommend that new users should read the complete docs carefully
("MovieMUI.guide" & "MovieDatabase.guide"). Most questions and problems
concerning the package will be answered there.
If you still have any question concerning the program "MovieMUI" please
write to:
Name Bernhardt, Andre
S-Mail Pfaffstr.6
76227 Karlsruhe
Germany
E-Mail ujad@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de
I use to answer E-Mail immediately and "normal" mail only if a SAE and
postage is provided.
Questions concerning the whole project will be answered (if not already
discussed in the "MovieDatabase.guide") by:
E-Mail imdb-team@ibmpcug.co.uk
6. DISCLAIMER
=============
THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY
APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT
HOLDER AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM ''AS IS'' WITHOUT WARRANTY
OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM
IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF
ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.
IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING
WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY REDISTRIBUTE THE
PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY
GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE
USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF
DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD
PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS),
EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
SUCH DAMAGES.
7. LICENSE
==========
This file is part of the Internet Movie Database. The database is an
international volunteer effort whose principal objective is to provide
useful and up to date movie information *freely* available on-line, across
as many systems and platforms as possible. The Internet Movie Database
Team can be reached via e-mail at <imdb-team@ibmpcug.co.uk> and are happy
to discuss the implications of and exceptions to this license.
All data and software released by the Internet Movie Database Team is
freely available to anyone within certain limitations described below. You
are encouraged to quote subsets of the database in USENET articles, movie
related FAQs, magazine articles etc. We do ask, however, that if
appropriate, you make reference to the source of the data and provide a
pointer to database for the benefit of the reader.
Permission is granted by the copyright holder to allow free distribution of
this file and any other part of the Internet Movie Database in an
ELECTRONIC FORM ONLY, providing the following conditions are met:
(1) NO FEE OF ANY KIND (however indirect), can be charged for its
distribution. If this file is being stored for later distribution to
anyone that can be seen as a customer to yourself or your company /
organization YOU MUST contact the Internet Movie Database Team for
permission.
(2) Each of the database files may be distributed individually but only in
an unaltered form. All the header and trailer information (including
this notice and the details on how to access the database) must remain
intact.
(3) Specifically the files may NOT be used to construct any kind of
on-line database (except for individual personal use). Clearance for
ALL such on-line data resources must be requested from the Internet
Movie Database Team. This is to enable us to maintain an up to date
list of all such sites. Clearance will be granted provided access to
said database is itself entirely free from ANY fees.
(4) In addition, copies of the movie database frequently asked questions
list and additions guide must be made available in the same area / by
the same method as the other database files.
(5) CD-ROM distribution is prohibited without written permission from the
Internet Movie Database Team (see below for an e-mail contact).
Distribution by e-mail, BBS and internet systems is positively encouraged
within these limitations.
The files and software which make up the movie database may be uploaded to
commercial BBS systems providing that the above conditions are met and no
*additional* fees are applied above the standard connect time or
downloading charges.
This copyright notice has been designed to ensure that the voluntary time
and effort of the Internet Movie Database Team and database users, is not
used for financial gain by those who have contributed nothing or little to
its growth or success. The changing nature of the Internet towards more
commercial uses has forced us to produce this statement. Please do not be
discouraged from submitting additions to the database as a result of this
policy. If you need further explanation please contact the team at the
address given below.
If you are in doubt as to whether this copyright notice prevents you from
distributing the database to others, you should contact the Internet Movie
Database Team by e-mail at <imdb-team@ibmpcug.co.uk>.