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After all these years of running SETI@Home, we still haven't found any extraterrestial TV signals carrying alien porn. :/

It was on the tee-vee, friend. :)

According to wired the machines have never been tested against mice.

Are you fucking crazy?

Giant squids have been found on other planets before, nothing new. I wonder if the crew of the japanese boat committed suicide though...

Zaphod is understandably worried. He tries to explain to Arthur why they are having difficulty with the controls.... "Every time I try to operate one of these weird controls, which is labelled black on a black background, a small black light lights up black to let you know you've done it!"

Episode 6: Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

That's not the Earth's orbit causing rodent extinction.

That was the mice rebooting the Earth while debugging it.

Since the users of our iPlanet are bailing out now without the system shutting down, I expect we're obsolete. Get ready to do your part for the firewall they turn us into.

Oh great, man-eating ant-eaters!

Lister points out that there is no such thing as Silicone Heaven. "But where do all the calculators go?" asks Kryten. "Surly you believe that god is in all things, aren't you a pantheist."
"Yeah," says Lister, "but I just don't think it applies to kitchen utensils, I'm not a frying pantheist!" he adds that calculators and other machines don't have an afterlife.
"But of course they do!" Objects Kryten, ".... It's common sense sir, if there wasn't an afterlife to look forward to, why on earth would machines spend the whole of their lives servicing humankind? Now that would be really dumb!" Lister decides to agree. He doesn't want to spoil Kryten's picture of going to heaven on his last day. He asks Kryten, just out of interest, if Silicone Heaven is the same place as human heaven. Kryten laughs, "there is no such thing as human heaven." He says, "Someone just made that up to prevent you from all going nuts!"

> Smoke me a kipper...

Whatta guy!

One of the very best episodes, IMO.

Combine biotech with IBM's nanotech and you can brand each of them with a carbon structure on their cell walls. Which is great, because if anyone ever happens to take a gander at one with an electron microscope they'll see an ad for you! Remember, the key to improving brand presence is ubiquity.

How long before we get a proper talkie toaster then
like this :)

you tell us what colour it should be.

Hey, it's cool...I was getting Dave Lister chills all over.

Or http://www.sadgeezer.com/hhg/b6.jpgDeep Thought

Screw the holodeck. Give me Better than Life from Red Dwarf!

SiO2

Your absolutely right, the deathstar/air freshener look of the new rendering IS wrong.
I went looking myself, and found that its not listed anywhere easy to find, theres not even a search hit about it on the official hg2g community!

Theres a section on wikipedia about it, but alas, no image.

The cover of the old dvd looks more similar to the rendered ball, but thats a green face with its tongue sticking out.

Anyway, I finally found it, and the original looks MUCH better. Theres a load more info, and a couple of images :)

http://www.sadgeezer.com/hhg/i-drive.htm

That's OK, King ripped off Alfred Bester and JMS ripped off "Alfred Bester".

http://www.sadgeezer.com/RedDwarf/rimmer.htm
There!

yes, but I hear they are darn good scientists.

The concept of "selective editing" (a la Mike Moore ;-) was demonstrated very well in the Babylon 5 episode "Illusion of Truth".

The B5 ISN news reporter Dan Randall edited the footage in an unethically truthful way just like Mike Moore

From "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

From a second "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

From a third "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

And finally a fourth "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (minor spoiler warning)

BTW, this Babylon 5 espisode is available on DVD

" Hi. I work for Greenpeace. ... we support ecoterrorism ... Greenpeace has a history of ... Violent Direct Actions for more than 30 years. ... We do ... ecoterrorism. ... speaking for Greenpeace, ... who just so happens to be an active reader of Slashdot ... You might not agree with protesting, but it's ... [a] type of terrorism ... It's quite obvious that this made the front page because of the people involved and the challenges that those people overcame."

There is no immediately available record that Greenpeace ever took 'Direct Action' against violent dictatorships

"truth" might not always be ethical truth "truth" might actually be a deceitful truth

... remember that Dan Randall (the Babylon 5 news reporter) was very truthful... he just strung the facts together in an unethically truthful way just like Mike Moore

From "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

From a second "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

From a third "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

And finally a fourth "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (minor spoiler warning)

"truth" might not always be ethical truth "truth" might actually be a deceitful truth

... remember that Dan Randall (the Babylon 5 'news' reporter) was very truthful... he just strung the facts together in an unethically truthful way just like Mike Moore

From "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

From a second "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

From a third "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

And finally a fourth "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (minor spoiler warning)

Orwell - his other writings apropos to current events
Many mention/imply that the USA is headed in the direction of Orwell's "1984" (perhaps F911 is an example of 1984 techniques in action). However, many are not aware of Orwell's other writings. For example, Notes on Nationalism:

NEGATIVE NATIONALISM
(i) ANGLOPHOBIA. Within the [pseudo?]intelligentsia, a derisive and mildly hostile attitude towards Britain [United States?] is more or less compulsory, but it is an unfaked emotion in many cases. During the war it was manifested in the defeatism of the [pseudo?]intelligentsia, which persisted long after it had become clear that the Axis [Islamo-fascist?] powers could not win. Many people were undisguisedly pleased when Singapore fell ore when the British were driven out of Greece, and there was a remarkable unwillingness to believe in good news, e.g. el Alamein [Iraq? Afghanistan?], or the number of German planes shot down in the Battle of Britain. English [Liberal Western Democracy?] left-wing [pseudo?]intellectuals did not, of course, actually want the Germans or Japanese [Islamo-fascist groups/countries?] to win the war, but many of them could not help getting a certain kick out of seeing their own country humiliated, and wanted to feel that the final victory would be due to Russia [UN? 'world-community'], or perhaps America, and not to Britain. In foreign politics many [pseudo?]intellectuals follow the principle that any faction backed by Britain [United States?] must be in the wrong. As a result, [pseudo?] 'enlightened' opinion is quite largely a mirror-image of Conservative policy. Anglophobia is always liable to reversal, hence that fairly common spectacle, the pacifist of one war who is a bellicist in the next.

One last thing ... I triple double dare you to watch the Iraq torture video clip

I will claim that Mike Moore does not "lie" per se ... rather Mike edits "creatively" ... May I ask you to read my entire post, consider all the links, especially the Babylon 5 "Illusion of Truth" plot summaries? The DVD is also available. You might also get a kick out of the Orwell aspects.

BTW, Happy 4th :-):-):-)

F911 - deceitful truth

BEGIN EXAMPLE showing Mike Moore being truthful albeit in a deceitful manner:

At the end of F911 Michael Moore quotes Condoleeza Rice as saying,

Oh, indeed there is a tie between Iraq and what happened on 9/11.
- Condi Rice as editied by Mike Moore

[snip][snip][snip]

Pretty damning stuff, isn't it? But that was the truncated, Michael Moore version.

Now for the full, unexpurgated quote:

Oh, indeed there is a tie between Iraq and what happened on 9/11. It's not that Saddam Hussein was somehow himself and his regime involved in 9/11, but, if you think about what caused 9/11, it is the rise of ideologies of hatred that lead people to drive airplanes into buildings in New York.
- Condi Rice without Mike Moore editing

Mike has taken a Condi quote and given it the polar opposite meaning from what she actually said. Now, Moore fans, consider this. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of video of Condi Rice talking about Iraq. If Condi had ever actually said that there was a tie between Iraq and 9/11 then Moore would have used it. So, if the Bush administration had ever actually claimed that there was a connection between 9/11 and Iraq, why would Michael Moore feel the need to use these kind of editing tricks to try and prove his point?

Because nobody ever said it, and he damn well knows it. His entire premise is based on a lie.

END EXAMPLE showing Mike Moore being truthful albeit in a deceitful manner
Babylon 5 - deceitful truth
If you are still a wee-bit confused about how Mike Moore editing works then you can check out the Babylon 5 episode "Illusion of Truth" which taught me that:

"truth" might not always be ethical truth

"truth" might actually be a deceitful truth

... remember that Dan Randall (the b5 ISN news reporter) was very truthful... he just strung the facts together in an unethically truthful way just like Mike Moore

From

"Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

From a second "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

From a third "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

And finally a fourth "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (minor spoiler warning)

Orwell - his other writings apropos to current events
Many mention/imply that the USA is headed in the direction of Orwell's "1984" (perhaps F911 is an example of 1984 techniques in action). However, many are not aware of Orwell's other writings. For example, Notes on Nationalism:

NEGATIVE NATIONALISM
(i) ANGLOPHOBIA. Within the [pseudo?]intelligentsia, a derisive and mildly hostile attitude towards Britain [United States?] is more or less compulsory, but it is an

F911 - deceitful truth

BEGIN EXAMPLE showing Mike Moore being truthful albeit in a deceitful manner:

At the end of F911 Michael Moore quotes Condoleeza Rice as saying, "

Oh, indeed there is a tie between Iraq and what happened on 9/11."
- Condi Rice as editied by Mike Moore

[snip][snip][snip]

Pretty damning stuff, isn't it? But that was the truncated, Michael Moore version.

Now for the full, unexpurgated quote:

"

Oh, indeed there is a tie between Iraq and what happened on 9/11. It's not that Saddam Hussein was somehow himself and his regime involved in 9/11, but, if you think about what caused 9/11, it is the rise of ideologies of hatred that lead people to drive airplanes into buildings in New York."
- Condi Rice without Mike Moore editing

Mike has taken a Condi quote and given it the polar opposite meaning from what she actually said. Now, Moore fans, consider this. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of video of Condi Rice talking about Iraq. If Condi had ever actually said that there was a tie between Iraq and 9/11 then Moore would have used it. So, if the Bush administration had ever actually claimed that there was a connection between 9/11 and Iraq, why would Michael Moore feel the need to use these kind of editing tricks to try and prove his point?

Because nobody ever said it, and he damn well knows it. His entire premise is based on a lie.

END EXAMPLE showing Mike Moore being truthful albeit in a deceitful manner

Babylon 5 - deceitful truth
If you are still a wee-bit confused about how Mike Moore editing works then you can check out the Babylon 5 episode "Illusion of Truth" which taught me that "truth" might not always be ethical truth and that "truth" might actually be a deceitful truth ... remember that Dan Randall (the b5 ISN news reporter) was very truthful... he just strung the facts together in an unethically truthful way just like Mike Moore

From

"Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

From a second "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

From a third "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

And finally a fourth "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (minor spoiler warning)

Orwell
Many mention/imply that the USA is headed in the direction of Orwell's "1984" (perhaps F911 is an example of 1984 techniques in action). However, many are not aware of Orwell's other writings. For example, Notes on Nationalism:

NEGATIVE NATIONALISM
(i) ANGLOPHOBIA. Within the [pseudo?]intelligentsia, a derisive and mildly hostile attitude towards Britain [United States?] is more or less compulsory, but it is an unfaked emotion in many cases. During the war it was manifested in the defeatism of the [pseudo?]intelligentsia, which persisted long after it had become clear that the Axis [Islamo-fascist?] powers could not win. Many people were undisguisedly pleased when Singapore fell ore when the British were driven out of Greece, and there was a remarkable unwillingness to believe in good news, e.g. el Al

F911 - "stopping certain content from surfacing again"
Funny because it reminds me of a movie I am hearing a tremendous amount of buzz about where Mike Moore teaches the concept of editing out-of-context ... thus, as you say, "stopping certain content from surfacing again"

BEGIN EXAMPLE showing Mike Moore attempting to "stop certain content from surfacing again":

At the end of F911 Michael Moore quotes Condoleeza Rice as saying, "

Oh, indeed there is a tie between Iraq and what happened on 9/11."
- Condi Rice as editied by Mike Moore

As usual, just like he did with the Charlton Heston speech in BFC, Mike plays fast and loose with the truth through the world of editing.

Pretty damning stuff, isn't it? But that was the truncated, Michael Moore version.

Now for the full, unexpurgated quote:

"

Oh, indeed there is a tie between Iraq and what happened on 9/11. It's not that Saddam Hussein was somehow himself and his regime involved in 9/11, but, if you think about what caused 9/11, it is the rise of ideologies of hatred that lead people to drive airplanes into buildings in New York."
- Condi Rice without Mike Moore editing

Mike has taken a Condi quote and given it the polar opposite meaning from what she actually said. Now, Moore fans, consider this. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of video of Condi Rice talking about Iraq. If Condi had ever actually said that there was a tie between Iraq and 9/11 then Moore would have used it. So, if the Bush administration had ever actually claimed that there was a connection between 9/11 and Iraq, why would Michael Moore feel the need to use these kind of editing tricks to try and prove his point?

Because nobody ever said it, and he damn well knows it. His entire premise is based on a lie.

END EXAMPLE showing Mike Moore attempting to "stop certain content from surfacing again"

I dare say this is a good example of how an individual (Mike Moore in F911) has, as you say, attempted to "stop certain content from surfacing again" Babylon 5 - "stopping certain content from surfacing again"
If you are still a wee-bit confused about how Mike Moore editing works then you can check out the Babylon 5 episode "Illusion of Truth" which taught me that "truth" might not always be ethical truth and that content that exists may be prevented from seeing the light of day ... remember that Dan Randall (the b5 ISN news reporter) was very truthful... he just strung the facts together in an unethically truthful way just like Mike Moore

From

"Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

From a second "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

From a thrid "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

And finally a fourth "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (minor spoiler warning)

Orwell
You wrote "reminds me of a book I once read" ...

Your above post as it might be quoted by your evil twin "Skippy" after having learned a thing or two about editing out-of-context from Mike Moore

See how Mike Moore editing works? 'Skippy' truthfully quoted what you wrote. Isn't he great. 'Skippy' can now claim that he honestly quoted you. 'Skippy' has the facts correct. You might be angry that 'Skippy' added some extra stuff such that your original intent changes, but you are being mean because 'Skippy' did not put quotes (") around the extra stuff ... he just sort of added it at the end of your prediction of the future. Isn't 'Skippy' a swell guy?

'Skippy' is practicing Mike Moore editing

From "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

From a second "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

From a thrid "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

And finally a fourth "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (minor spoiler warning)

One last thing ... I triple double dare you to watch the Saddam (Iraq torture video clip)

From

"Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

From a second "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

From a thrid "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (spoiler warning)

And finally a fourth "Illusion of Truth" plot summary (minor spoiler warning)

Ed Koch (democrat mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989) might agree there is a need for "Ethical Film Makers"

Disagreeing with America's foreign policy and seeking to change it, responsibly or irresponsibly, is a fundamental right protected by the First Amendment.

Shaming those who do it irresponsibly [unethical Moore?] is our only lawful recourse and rightly so.

Senator John Kerry in criticizing United States' foreign policy and the incumbent president is acting responsibly, albeit I disagree with many of his views. On the other hand, Michael Moore, writer and director of the film "Fahrenheit 9/11," crosses that line regularly. The line is not set forth in the criminal statutes, but it is determined by Americans who know instinctively what actions and statements taken and uttered violate the obligations of responsibility and citizenship they deem applicable in time of war.

Franklin Roosevelt (president of usa during ww2) might agree there is a need for "Ethical Film Makers"

And, finally, there are a few among us who have deliberately and consciously closed their eyes because they were determined to be opposed to their government, its foreign policy and every other policy, to be partisan, and to believe that anything that the Government did was wholly wrong.

To those who have closed their eyes for any of these many reasons, to those who would not admit the possibility of the approaching storm--to all of them the past two weeks have meant the shattering of many illusions.

They have lost the illusion that we are remote and isolated and, therefore, secure against the dangers from which no other land is free.

In some quarters, with this rude awakening has come fear, bordering on panic. It is said that we are defenseless. It is whispered by some that only by abandoning our freedom, our ideals, our way of life, can we build our defenses adequately, can we match the strength of the aggressors.

I did not share those illusions. I do not share these fears
[snip][snip][snip]
But there is an added technique for weakening a nation at its very roots, for disrupting the entire pattern of life of a people. It is important that we understand it.

The method is simple. It is, first, a dissemination of discord. A group--not too large- a group that may be sectional or racial or political--is encouraged to exploit its prejudices through false slogans and emotional appeals. The aim of those who deliberately egg on these groups is to create confusion of counsel, public indecision, political paralysis and, eventually, a state of panic.

Sound national policies come to be viewed with a new and unreasoning skepticism, not through the wholesome political debates of honest and free men, but through the clever schemes of foreign agents.

As a result of these new techniques, armament programs may be dangerously delayed. Singleness of national purpo

becoming partners rather than tools - in other words, we'll have friends, not appliances.

Your plastic pal who's fun to be with!

Warning: abstract thoughts ahead.

Considering the whole of spacetime as a single unit, with our perception limited to only one piece of it at a time, it occurs to me that perhaps everything in both our future and past exists all at once; we're just sliding down a scale as the next section is revealed to us.

That said, wouldn't it make sense that the world's fastest computer is among the very last "super" computers built, many years (centuries? millennia?) in our future (if you want to call it that)? No computer we build today could possibly ever be the world's fastest unless the world cease's to be.

Besides, according to Douglas Adams, Earth itself is the world's fastest computer, designed by Deep Thought.

Warning: abstract thoughts ahead.

Considering the whole of spacetime as a single unit, with our perception limited to only one piece of it at a time, it occurs to me that perhaps everything in both our future and past exists all at once; we're just sliding down a scale as the next section is revealed to us.

That said, wouldn't it make sense that the world's fastest computer is among the very last "super" computers built, many years (centuries? millennia?) in our future (if you want to call it that)? No computer we build today could possibly ever be the world's fastest unless the world cease's to be.

Besides, according to Douglas Adams, Earth itself is the world's fastest computer, designed by Deep Thought.

Which of these looks more like the kind of product that would actually be marketed as "Your plastic pal who's fun to be with?"

It was decided that three large Arcs were to be built which would carry the whole population across the galaxy to find a new planet for them to colonise. In the 'A Arc' would go all the leaders, the brilliant scientists, the great thinkers and clever politicians, in the 'C Arc' would go all the doers, the builders and fabricators, the people who made things. The 'B Arc' would therefore carry all the middlemen such as telephone sanitisers and management consultants.

Anyway, the plan involved the building of the B Arc first. All the 'middle' people were rounded up and sent off to find a new home, oblivious to the fact that the A and C Arcs would never be built.

It's ironic that the planet Golgafrincham suffered a virulent and ultimately fatal virus a few years later. It was transmitted by dirty telephones.

this is what you get for sending off all the telephone sanitizers in a space ship to crash on another planet, just because they're a bunch of useless bloody loonies.

though i guess it's better than being eaten by a giant mutant space goat.

(anyway, that's the first thing that came to mind when i read this.)

You mean like Schemmi in Luvliner?

Living a bachelor who went to the grocery store at most once a month, every six months I traded customer loyalty discount cards with a friend who has a family of three ravenous boys. Let the marketing weenies figure that one out.

Yeah, but that was Back in the Red, by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, wasn't it?

(Ah, the world loves a bastard!)

"Dear God, it's full of meat!"

As we all know, attempting to determine the mass of the Higgs boson is what causes Type 13 planets to collapse
to the size of a pea. (Scroll about halfway down the page for the reference, then see here for an explanation of the reference to fans.)

Lister and Holly(Craig Charles and Hattie Hayridge) where the husband and wife prison wardens in the episode P4X

Thank You

I have been needing a new sig.

MS Marketing is in top form today.

They remind me very much of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation