Now I'm not trying to say that Gattica IS innacurate, but 2 of the things that Hollywood tends to screw up the most are computer and medical storys.
Take anything you see in a movie with a very, VERY large grain of salt, half of the time even movies based off of the truth end up so very far from that truth they started with.
Though Gattaca is a good presentation of the very reason that there SHOULD be laws against this sort of thing (since it doesn't seem to be covered by current laws, according to that article).
Wouldn't this be covered under the current laws against discrimination, or are they too specific? How about the laws on unfair dismissal?
Some company is going to get sued over this, I can see it coming. Pity it'll probably take a large class-action suit for it to not get swept under the carpet as to avoid (inter)national attention.
But the second that there is a noisy lawsuit, politicians are going to be all over it like they were concerned about it the entire time.
Something will get done about this, but probably not before quite a few people lose their jobs over it.
For instance, at my work we use an Iris scanner to get into the building. That isn't useful for forensics, but for access to restricted areas........ Just imagine if you had finger prints almost the exact same as someone who had unrestricted (fingerprint) access to Nuclear Weapons. Bit of a strech, but it could happen.
Now, I'm not sure just what the accuracy is in the scanner, but let's assume for a moment that it's the same as "1 in 10000" that's being tossed around for fingerprints in this discussion.
At the same time, assume that the pattern of someone's Iris and their finger prints aren't linked in any way.
Combine the 2 and you've got a 1 in 10 billion chance of having duplicate records.
Not the launch date, but the success of the system out of the starting gates.
If Sega comes on board with Nintendo as a 3rd party developer, it could give a larger release library of games, some of them being ports of some of Sega's well known and popular arcade games.
Notice how one of the biggest complaints about the PS2 so far has been the lack of games? Sure, it's got all of the PSX games, but most people who rushed out to buy a PS2 already have a PSX.
Sega has also always had a strong arcade presence in the past decade or 2. I've never been a big fan of most of their home systems, but their arcade games are some of the best.
While the sales of the Dreamcast have been less than spectacular, many of the well known and more popular Dreamcast games (that are by Sega) are also arcade games. The could still make a lot of money if they ditched the home hardware market altogether, in theory at least.
Anyway, the CNN article I linked to earlier in this discussion has a quote from one of the astronomers that found these planets:
"Perhaps these objects were ejected from their orbits from their original birthplaces around the stars."
But as for civilization, since these are all gas giants that were found, and the fact that there's more than just one planet indicates that it probably wasn't a conscious decision by some alien civilization. At least not by a civilization that could possibly fit any definition of life & civilization that we currently have.
A planet like Earth has a liquid magma core, correct? So it follows that other Earth-like planets might also have magma cores.
It's this magma core that creates volcanic vents that are found deep in the ocean, providing the heat needed to sustain life at those low depths were sunlight never reaches.
Mind you, according to the article on CNN we aren't dealing with planets like Earth, which isn't suprising. Supposedly they're much larger, currently larger than Jupiter and Saturn. The question of life on a Gas Giant is a whole different ball game. Like with Jupiter though, it's possible that they've also got moons that could, theoretically, support life.
Dark Nexus
"Sanity is calming, but madness is more interesting."
They are, however, free to the end user as far as recurring fees go - once you've bought the TV and a set of rabbit ears, you just have to pay for the electricity.
This is what I'm getting at.
Also, anybody who has played with receiving on-air stations knows that consecutive channels interfere with each other.
This means that channel 5 interferes with 4 and 6, etc.
Slashdot Mirror
Ever seen Hackers?
Now I'm not trying to say that Gattica IS innacurate, but 2 of the things that Hollywood tends to screw up the most are computer and medical storys.
Take anything you see in a movie with a very, VERY large grain of salt, half of the time even movies based off of the truth end up so very far from that truth they started with.
Though Gattaca is a good presentation of the very reason that there SHOULD be laws against this sort of thing (since it doesn't seem to be covered by current laws, according to that article).
Dark Nexus
Wouldn't this be covered under the current laws against discrimination, or are they too specific? How about the laws on unfair dismissal?
Some company is going to get sued over this, I can see it coming. Pity it'll probably take a large class-action suit for it to not get swept under the carpet as to avoid (inter)national attention.
But the second that there is a noisy lawsuit, politicians are going to be all over it like they were concerned about it the entire time.
Something will get done about this, but probably not before quite a few people lose their jobs over it.
Pity.
Dark Nexus
Look a little closer at my post again...
See? Up at the top there? The part where I said it isn't useful for forensics?
People should learn how to read and pay a bit of attention before they try to learn how to make witty or sarcastic replies...
Dark Nexus
For instance, at my work we use an Iris scanner to get into the building. That isn't useful for forensics, but for access to restricted areas........ Just imagine if you had finger prints almost the exact same as someone who had unrestricted (fingerprint) access to Nuclear Weapons. Bit of a strech, but it could happen.
Now, I'm not sure just what the accuracy is in the scanner, but let's assume for a moment that it's the same as "1 in 10000" that's being tossed around for fingerprints in this discussion.
At the same time, assume that the pattern of someone's Iris and their finger prints aren't linked in any way.
Combine the 2 and you've got a 1 in 10 billion chance of having duplicate records.
Dark Nexus
Not the launch date, but the success of the system out of the starting gates.
If Sega comes on board with Nintendo as a 3rd party developer, it could give a larger release library of games, some of them being ports of some of Sega's well known and popular arcade games.
Notice how one of the biggest complaints about the PS2 so far has been the lack of games? Sure, it's got all of the PSX games, but most people who rushed out to buy a PS2 already have a PSX.
Dark Nexus
Sega has also always had a strong arcade presence in the past decade or 2. I've never been a big fan of most of their home systems, but their arcade games are some of the best.
While the sales of the Dreamcast have been less than spectacular, many of the well known and more popular Dreamcast games (that are by Sega) are also arcade games. The could still make a lot of money if they ditched the home hardware market altogether, in theory at least.
Dark Nexus
As I remember, mine changed...
:)
Orange and black, blue and black, red a blue, and so on. The odd time, I'd even get a rotation.... Orange, Blue, Green, Black, Red, repeat
Dark Nexus
a slight variation on the original Mario Brothers game (remember that one? POW.)
:)
Anybody who played much Mario 3 should remember it, considering it was in it
Can't remember if it was a secret thing or not now, it's been so long...
Dark Nexus
Yep, to require ID to be shown to buy "Soldier of Fortune", the British Columbia government had it officially declared to be pornography.
All of that talk about censorship down in the US, and it pops up out of nowhere on Canada's west coast... Go figure.
Dark Nexus
I know there was... one in the original series...
Anyway, the CNN article I linked to earlier in this discussion has a quote from one of the astronomers that found these planets:
"Perhaps these objects were ejected from their orbits from their original birthplaces around the stars."
But as for civilization, since these are all gas giants that were found, and the fact that there's more than just one planet indicates that it probably wasn't a conscious decision by some alien civilization. At least not by a civilization that could possibly fit any definition of life & civilization that we currently have.
Dark Nexus
A planet like Earth has a liquid magma core, correct? So it follows that other Earth-like planets might also have magma cores.
It's this magma core that creates volcanic vents that are found deep in the ocean, providing the heat needed to sustain life at those low depths were sunlight never reaches.
Mind you, according to the article on CNN we aren't dealing with planets like Earth, which isn't suprising. Supposedly they're much larger, currently larger than Jupiter and Saturn. The question of life on a Gas Giant is a whole different ball game. Like with Jupiter though, it's possible that they've also got moons that could, theoretically, support life.
Dark Nexus
"Sanity is calming, but madness is more interesting."
Dark Nexus
They are, however, free to the end user as far as recurring fees go - once you've bought the TV and a set of rabbit ears, you just have to pay for the electricity.
This is what I'm getting at.
Also, anybody who has played with receiving on-air stations knows that consecutive channels interfere with each other.
This means that channel 5 interferes with 4 and 6, etc.
Dark Nexus
You need decent bandwidth to stream video off of the internet.
Besides, the only TV you can get off the net that I know of at the moment (so that doesn't include the still-defunct ICraveTV) is the news channels.
Dark Nexus
And take away the only FREE (and legal) alternative to cable/satelite?
I don't think so, not everybody is willing to pay for those services you know.
Dark Nexus