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I've seen so many ridiculous "hacking" sequences in films that I really wasn't expecting this series to go into as much realistic detail as they do. Also most h

I've seen so many ridiculous "hacking" sequences in films that I really wasn't expecting this series to go into as much realistic detail as they do. Also most hacking stuff in films is at its worst when it comes to the dialogue which somehow always has to have something to do with shutting down a "mainframe". But this series does a great job both from a tech and dialogue perspective. There's even a scene where the main character and the CTO of another corp (trying not to spoil anything), have a conversation about gnome vs. kde. EDIT: after doing some reading looks like the writer/creator is responsible a lot of this realism see: http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/06/24/mr_robot_gay_character_sam_esmail_explains_why_the_show_needed_one.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/06/24/mr_robot_gay_c.... Here's an interesting reddit response feed from him: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3bp1zz/i_am_sam_esmail_creator_of_mr_robot_ama/ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3bp1zz/i_am_sam_esmai...

n0us 11y ago
Every time they show a terminal the actors are typing live, unlike most shows/films like say Silicon Valley where the screen is a video.
miyuru 11y ago
when tor was mentioned in the opening scene of the first episode, i knew that this show was different.
- jfaucett 11y ago
  yea especially when in that same line they mentioned onion routing and explained traffic monitoring by comprising tor exit nodes.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
Tloewald 11y ago
I particularly hate unrealism which is hopelessly unnecessary, such as showing people using ridiculously bad faux search engines and email clients, or results displays that rub your face in the result: SUSPECT IDENTIFIED with one result on the screen, vs. a list of results the person has to interpret. Gnome vs. KDE is probably the least technical thing they've gotten right in the show. There were a couple of minor howlers in the most recent episode, unfortunately (up until then, no significant lapses I've noticed -- staggering for a TV show).
- krapp 11y ago
  >or results displays that rub your face in the result: SUSPECT IDENTIFIED with one result on the screen, vs. a list of results the person has to interpret. That's the entire point, though - telling the viewer who the villain is quickly (and, most importantly, cost effectively) to get to the part where the hero busts down their door. Designing the UIs realistically and eating up valuable screen time with analysts poring over the data would be a waste of money in most cases. Also, realistic design increases the chances of someone actually suing for copyright infringement or something.
  - Tloewald 11y ago
    Realistic design doesn't cost more; using actual sites may get you fired, but altering them sufficiently is cheaper than building whole b.s. displays from scratch. I think the "tell the viewer who the villain is quickly" is correct in terms of the director/writer's intention, but in fact the word is "badly".
    - krapp 11y ago
      Realistic web design means hiring someone who knows how to design websites, or redesign them, and budgeting that. It might also mean translating the results into whatever digital effects workflow they use, because I doubt there are any actual applications being run or sites being shown. Also bear in mind the relationship between camera distance and screen resolution, and that the design requirements for UIs intended to be used by someone physically sitting inches away from the screen, and the composition of elements in a scene for television or film, which may place the viewer halfway across the room in terms of perceived distance, are necessarily different. Text that would be normal sized on the web might not even be legible when the viewer sees it, much less be capable of leading the viewer's attention. FWIW I mostly agree with you, it's absurd for anyone who's technically competent, but still not as simple a matter as getting it realistic versus getting it wrong, rather of not boring the viewer with tedium and visual clutter.
      - Tloewald 11y ago
vezzy-fnord 11y ago
There's even a scene where the main character and the CTO of another corp (trying not to spoil anything), have a conversation about gnome vs. kde. Haven't watched the show, but this reminded me of that awful line from The Internship, a film I was baited into watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpdngXQOkBI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpdngXQOkBI
- varelse 11y ago
  The Internship and Mr. Robot have about as much in common as Twilight and Fight Club (all IMO of course)...
- jayzalowitz 11y ago
  What I love about that movie is that google tried to use it to re-recruit people from my internship (I mean we all interned at google togeather so in reality it was more of a reunion but still...)
- swang 11y ago
  Funniest things from that movie. 1. Interns worried about jobs after internship at GOOGLE 2. Google has live support chat. HA-HA-HA.
  - avinassh 11y ago
    > 2. Google has live support chat. You can actually have live chat support with Google. Check this, Google Drive Help for example: https://support.google.com/drive/?hl=en#topic=14940&contact=1 https://support.google.com/drive/?hl=en#topic=14940&contact=... Select any topic in 'The best way to get support', you will see chat option
- jradd 11y ago
  Technical acuity aside, mr robot would be superb in and of itself… however the accuracy makes this show _nearly_ flawless so far imo. I just hope the creator prepared for this great reception, and continues to deliver!
adamnemecek 11y ago
> CTO of another corp Not to nitpick but he's not the CTO.
- wut42 11y ago
  He almost was :p
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

n0us 11y ago

Every time they show a terminal the actors are typing live, unlike most shows/films like say Silicon Valley where the screen is a video.

miyuru 11y ago

when tor was mentioned in the opening scene of the first episode, i knew that this show was different.

jfaucett 11y ago
yea especially when in that same line they mentioned onion routing and explained traffic monitoring by comprising tor exit nodes.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

Tloewald 11y ago

I particularly hate unrealism which is hopelessly unnecessary, such as showing people using ridiculously bad faux search engines and email clients, or results displays that rub your face in the result: SUSPECT IDENTIFIED with one result on the screen, vs. a list of results the person has to interpret. Gnome vs. KDE is probably the least technical thing they've gotten right in the show. There were a couple of minor howlers in the most recent episode, unfortunately (up until then, no significant lapses I've noticed -- staggering for a TV show).

krapp 11y ago
>or results displays that rub your face in the result: SUSPECT IDENTIFIED with one result on the screen, vs. a list of results the person has to interpret. That's the entire point, though - telling the viewer who the villain is quickly (and, most importantly, cost effectively) to get to the part where the hero busts down their door. Designing the UIs realistically and eating up valuable screen time with analysts poring over the data would be a waste of money in most cases. Also, realistic design increases the chances of someone actually suing for copyright infringement or something.
- Tloewald 11y ago
  Realistic design doesn't cost more; using actual sites may get you fired, but altering them sufficiently is cheaper than building whole b.s. displays from scratch. I think the "tell the viewer who the villain is quickly" is correct in terms of the director/writer's intention, but in fact the word is "badly".
  - krapp 11y ago
    Realistic web design means hiring someone who knows how to design websites, or redesign them, and budgeting that. It might also mean translating the results into whatever digital effects workflow they use, because I doubt there are any actual applications being run or sites being shown. Also bear in mind the relationship between camera distance and screen resolution, and that the design requirements for UIs intended to be used by someone physically sitting inches away from the screen, and the composition of elements in a scene for television or film, which may place the viewer halfway across the room in terms of perceived distance, are necessarily different. Text that would be normal sized on the web might not even be legible when the viewer sees it, much less be capable of leading the viewer's attention. FWIW I mostly agree with you, it's absurd for anyone who's technically competent, but still not as simple a matter as getting it realistic versus getting it wrong, rather of not boring the viewer with tedium and visual clutter.
    - Tloewald 11y ago

vezzy-fnord 11y ago

There's even a scene where the main character and the CTO of another corp (trying not to spoil anything), have a conversation about gnome vs. kde. Haven't watched the show, but this reminded me of that awful line from The Internship, a film I was baited into watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpdngXQOkBI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpdngXQOkBI

varelse 11y ago
The Internship and Mr. Robot have about as much in common as Twilight and Fight Club (all IMO of course)...
jayzalowitz 11y ago
What I love about that movie is that google tried to use it to re-recruit people from my internship (I mean we all interned at google togeather so in reality it was more of a reunion but still...)
swang 11y ago
Funniest things from that movie. 1. Interns worried about jobs after internship at GOOGLE 2. Google has live support chat. HA-HA-HA.
- avinassh 11y ago
  > 2. Google has live support chat. You can actually have live chat support with Google. Check this, Google Drive Help for example: https://support.google.com/drive/?hl=en#topic=14940&contact=1 https://support.google.com/drive/?hl=en#topic=14940&contact=... Select any topic in 'The best way to get support', you will see chat option
jradd 11y ago
Technical acuity aside, mr robot would be superb in and of itself… however the accuracy makes this show _nearly_ flawless so far imo. I just hope the creator prepared for this great reception, and continues to deliver!

adamnemecek 11y ago

> CTO of another corp Not to nitpick but he's not the CTO.

wut42 11y ago
He almost was :p

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]