Slashdot Mirror
30 Years of Star Wars Technology
An anonymous reader writes "Earlier this month, Computerworld Australia checked out the exhibition of 30 years of Star Wars history at Sydney's Powerhouse museum. They also have a pictorial look at what's on display: one of the largest collections of Star Wars memorabilia combined with real-life examples of how such technology is being applied for business and social advancement."
It hasn't been 30 years. That would make me 30 + ...omfg! I'm freakin old!
Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
It hasn't been 30 years. It's been 31. The movie was released on 25th May 1977 in the US, and 27th October 1977 in Australia.
Wrong again, it's clearly stated as "A LONG, LONG TIME AGO."
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
I'd rather have a sonic screwdriver any day of the week...
Mr Bush? Are you going to start posting in ./ now that your presidency is close to be over?
I happen to like Star Wars, but in my mind it was never about the tech, at all, nor was it even about space. Star Wars is almost completely story driven, IMHO.
/me runs away
Trek has the tech focus.
If you can read this... 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100111 01100101 01100101 01101011
Fail!
"The exhibition starts with the juxtaposition of the Millennium Falcon, which can travel between galaxies effortlessly,... "
Ok, one would assume that being in "a galaxy far far away" would mean that the story took place within that galaxy, although they never specifically said this, it is a logical assumption that the author seems to have missed.
"Another is dubbed "dataless" and uses nuclear fusion as the fuel. It is a concept that dates back to the 1970s and one originally from the Interplanetary Society."
Here they somehow seemed to have confused "Daedalus" in an impressive homophone that had never even occurred to me before seeing that.
thats as far as I got before closing the tab in disgust
It hasn't been 30 years. It's been 31. The movie was released on 25th May 1977 in the US, and 27th October 1977 in Australia.
If you're going to do that, at least take off the karma-bonus.
that would be nothing then. hate to break it to the jed-dork's but guys, it ain't real.
I will have a sig when the market demands it.
They misspelled tauntaun for one of the captions ... D;
is it that bad seein a hot chick again? if i see a hot chick walkin down the hall i dont say "repost"
30 years, sigh. How many parsecs is that?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Does this guy know anything about science?
No, that's when I rememeber how that music used to make me smile. And anyway, I'm a mayfly, you insens
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Usually media stories about Star Wars means that George Lucas has decided his pension pot needs a little top up and another remaster of the only successful movies he's made are on the cards. There are so many different versions now it's hard to see any new remastering swindles to pull.
Perhaps an Ewoks sequel (or prequel...we know he's fond of those), or maybe a "who shot first" DVD, with the option to play ANH and have a different cut of the cantina scene edited in. Since the Star Wars franchise are all about making money, my guess is that a "who shot first" DVD would be sold as 2 DVDs, with a new 5 minute documentary interview with George Lucas on why this new remaster is worth buying to sit alongside the multiple copies you already have. Part 1 of the interview (the first 2.5 minutes will be on DVD 1, the second part will be on DVD 2....like Pokemon....."gotta buy 'em all").
Maybe it's a remastered Special Edition with Hayden Chritsiansen removed from Vader's funeral pire scene in ROTJ. It could be a new scene added to the end of ROTJ where Jar Jar is accidentally shot and killed by celebratory laserfire......to please the crowds who have given him his pension pot, despite being fucked over and over again.
The "Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination" exhibit has been going on for quite some time (three years now). It was in Portland two years ago where I got some pics of the same exhibit.
Prove it.
I agree that the Stormtrooper's appearance probably influenced the Asimo's appearance.
I wouldn't credit the advancement in Prosthetics or Bionics to Star Wars - more the 6 million dollar man and the original Battlestar Galactica.
And until the Cinnamon Bun Hairstyle and Metal Bikini become fashionable, I'm not buying the Business and Social Advancement.
...is more like it. What a regression in taste, quality and importance over 30 years. Let's hope GL passes peacefully before he makes another BurgerKing/Kenner/Hasbro inspired prequel/sequel.
Imagination drew in bold strokes, instantly serving hopes and fears, while knowledge advanced by slow increments...
But rather fantasy-fiction.
There isn't much science in those film.
All I read was "30 years and still no lightsabers".
"A long time ago, yet somehow in the future..."
© Family Guy
NASA robot to use Linux
"The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget." -Thomas Szasz
Wrong again! 1 long, 2 fars.
Having just sort of watched "Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", it would appear that you are slightly confused.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Stormtrooper: Let me see your Technology.
Obi-Wan: : [with a small wave of his hand] You don't need to see his Technology.
Stormtrooper: : We don't need to see his Technology.
Obi-Wan: : These aren't the Technologies you're looking for.
Stormtrooper: : These aren't the Technologies we're looking for.
Obi-Wan: : He can go about his business.
Stormtrooper: : You can go about your business.
Obi-Wan: : Move along.
Stormtrooper: : Move along... move along.
Stormtrooper2: : Hey, let's go check out the new Subspace Communicators at the Apple Store in Mos Eisley.
Of course, every answer that they always come up with is always "Plasma!"
Lightsabers, PLASMA!
Open Docking Bay Doors, PLASMA!
The Force, PLASMA!
Jar Jar's ability to annoy, PLASMA!
Everything is plasma...
Xaotik Designs
My former brother in-law used to work at Industrial Light and Magic, I toured their studio three times in the early 80s.
Saw the original Falcon there, the walkers, planet setups for space shots, line of cannibalized model parts that were used for shots where fighters and other craft were near larger craft (like the Start Destroyers).
Last time I was there, they were filming Star Trek III, got to see the Enterprise in front of the blue screen after it had taken damage. And, they also had a miniature forest scene setup for the flying bicycle scene(s) in ET. The model and monster shop was also astounding, seeing the different molds, tools, partially completed and complete models and monsters.
I even saw the baby dragons from the movie Dragonslayer, which were designed and operated by my former brother in-law for that movie.
...I want my light saber already!
And Obiwan is STILL my only hope.
So what you're saying is that Star Wars took place on Earth? There have been lots of countries on Earth where after getting a new wonderful government the only technology that advances is military and much of what the people had goes to pot. My father-in-law who lived in a jungle city of Vietnam before the war there said people had cars. After the war, nobody had cars. I was there a few years ago, and a few people in Saigon had cars, but for the most part he was still correct some 30 years later.
Stop Global Warming!
Just say no to irreversible processes!
OMG, Amarok had become self aware. I was reading this and it started playing the Imperial March!
I just wanted to point out that there are two kinds of Star Wars fans:
The Web is like Usenet, but
the elephants are untrained.
No, that's when I rememeber how that music used to make me smile. And anyway, I'm a mayfly, you insens
Apparently a dictating mayfly...
Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
1 mile = 5,280 feet
3 miles = 15,840 feet
Lowest reasonable estimate estimate for the number of participants = 669,600
Assumed # of participants per link in your hypothetical chain (at 12 links per foot) = 3.5
Your attempt at a racist joke = Fail
Your estimated IQ based on aforementioned attempt = 1-24
Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
Plus, in that galaxy technology works the other way around: it get worse with time except for Death Stars (compare the technology in A New Hope with the one in The Phantom Menace)
I've interpeted that as the Empire causing a dark age of sorts, probably triggered by all the stuff that got destroyed in Episode 3. Even so, some things don't make sense, like why is the droid army in Phantom Menace so crude compared to the likes of R2D2 and C3PO?
Star Wars fans are to feel the force of the seminal sci-fi films and their iconic soundtracks on stage, screen, television, Game Boy, comic book and Internet in major new releases, which will launch next year.
In Star Wars: Journey To The Bottom Of The Barrel , the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will play a live score as recreations of scenes from the six films with amusingly-captioned kittens are shown on a cinema screen.
It will not be a traditional musical with actors playing characters from the films, but will feature live narrators, speaking authentic lolcat dialect, as painstakingly reconstructed by linguists.
As well as the destruction of the Death Star (an exploding Wikipedia puzzle globe) and various love scenes between Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala (rendered with the relevant LEGO(tm) figures), there will be several of the epic battle scenes for which Star Wars is famous, featuring Airfix model spacecraft taking on miniature cardboard battleships, as held in the jaws of cute kittens.
"Star Wars holds memories for practically everyone," said George Lucas. "I can't think of anyone who won't be simply thrilled to have those memories lovingly caressed by these reconstructions. They'll be particularly pleased to know that JarJar Binks is back, warning Han that Greedo is about to shoot first."
http://rocknerd.co.uk
For that reason alone I disqualify Star Wars as sci-fi. There simply is no "sci" to it at all.
I think we all have different definitions of Sci-Fi, and attach different levels of importance to certain aspects (e.g. the "explanation of the science/tech" part).
What is your definition of "Science Fiction"?
Does a Sci-Fi movie need to highlight or explain the science/technology involved?
" like why is the droid army in Phantom Menace so crude compared to the likes of R2D2 and C3PO?"
does cannon fodder really need to be all that smart or advanced?
Who run Barter Town?
I seem to remember a parody starting off "A far time ago, in a galaxy long, long away..." I thought it was Hardware Wars but checking YouTube I see that that starts with the equally-funny "Meanwhile... in another part of the galaxy, later that same day..." Oh well, at least it gives me an excuse to link to Hardware Wars. :-)
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
man, i had $50 bucks riding on long too. now i have to avoid my bookie until payday.
Just reading all these posts makes me warm inside. I love Star Wars fans. Did anyone notice that in the pictures from the exhibit: Han Solo, Anakin Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, and Mace Windu are all black? When did this happen? Well Mace I understand.
This signature has The Force
I saw this exhibit this past summer when it was at the Science Museum of Minnesota. I have to say I wasn't that impressed.
Don't get me wrong, I loves me some Star Wars. But it was just an exhibit of props and costumes. The whole thing about showing modern technology based off Star Wars tech felt like an afterthought at best.
There was also an Omnitheater movie that they were showing at the same time. However they neglected to mention it was really a 10+ year old movie about special effects (they were making Independence Day and Kazaam in the movie).