The best knife is one that is hidden after all and if they harbor the desire to conquer us anyway this will give us an advantage in the initial confrontation.
That's naive. We have no advantage; in fact, we have a huge disadvantage: we're at the bottom of a gravity well. They can throw rocks at us far more easily than we can throw nukes at them.
The way that would play out in the show would have been a fucking head trip. Events of previous episodes may or may not have happened. Characters who were killed may end up being alive again now that the timeline has changed. A character from the future will realize that events in the past are different from what he experienced and that his own future may no longer exist.
They started to do this just before the end of the second season. There was a scene where Derek and his girlfriend were alone and Derek said "My Judgment Day was April 2011, when was yours?" And then there was the ending of the second season finale...
I noticed this article is tagged "terminator" and "skynet", but the first thing that went through my mind was ED-209 from RoboCop:
(Shamelessly copied from imdb.com)
[Mr. Kinney points a pistol at ED-209] ED-209: [menacingly] Please put down your weapon. You have 20 seconds to comply. Dick Jones: I think you better do as he says, Mr. Kinney. [Mr. Kinney drops the pistol on the floor] Dick Jones: [ED-209 advances, growling] ED-209: You now have 15 seconds to comply. [Mr. Kinney turns to Dick Jones, who looks nervous] ED-209: You are in direct violation of Penal Code 1.13, Section 9. [Entire room of people in full panic trying to stay out of the line of fire, especially Mr. Kinney] ED-209: You have 5 seconds to comply. Kinney: Help me! ED-209: Four... three... two... one... I am now authorized to use physical force! [ED-209 opens fire and shreds Mr. Kinney]
It doesn't matter whether you build or buy, it doesn't matter what OS you run, what will matter the most is how well is the system maintained.
By maintained I mean: - is it kept in a clean, well-ventilated environment? - is it maintained periodically (opened up and dust blown out using compressed air, fans checked for proper operation, etc.)? - is it locked down so that Ron Receptionist doesn't go install Whiz-Bang's Flashy Sudoku, Trojan and Keylogger?
Over the lifespan you're talking about, component failure due to excessive heat and/or dust-induced short circuits is probably your biggest concern. If the system is also locked down against malware, then it should just keep running...
(Owner of an 11-year-old Pentium III-based Dell box running Linux that's been his main media/CVS/DNS server for the past 7 years.)
I'm reminded of my high school days (early-to-mid 70s). We had these "analog computers"; basically there were these boxes that had an analog meter for displaying results and a patch panel where you used jumpers to connect various knobs (resistors), timing circuits (capacitors), and switches. We wired three of these things together to build a planetary landing simulator - it started as a lunar lander simulator, but then we added a knob for tweaking gravity:-). One meter was altitude, one was vertical speed and one was fuel. The object was to get your altitude to zero with your vertical speed below a certain level before your fuel went to zero. It tooks us hours to figure out how to wire it up, and many more hours of, um, "testing" to make sure we got it right:-). We really got wrapped in this thing; with all the knobs and switches and a little imagination it felt like we were controlling a LEM or something.
The obvious solution to broken CAPTCHAs is to use a Vulcan mind-training device like Spock was using at the beginning of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
(Asked in rapid succession without waiting for an answer):
"Name the last 7 presidents of the United States." "If a car leaves London at 7:00 AM for Glasgow at 90 KPH and another car leaves Glasgow at 8:00 AM for London at 80 KPH, at what time will they meet?" "What are the three elements of the human psychie?" "How do you feel?"
If you give the correct answers within 3 seconds, you're in.
This kid sounds like a character out of a Heinlein novel. Now all he needs to do is to use his new solar cell to power his home-built starship that he can fly to Epsilon Eridani so he can form a coalition of aliens to confront the evil slime creatures bent on destroying Earth, all before school vacation ends.
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That's naive. We have no advantage; in fact, we have a huge disadvantage: we're at the bottom of a gravity well. They can throw rocks at us far more easily than we can throw nukes at them.
Now people will have an excuse for driving their starships straight into a supernova. "But the GPS said to turn 'up' here!"
They started to do this just before the end of the second season. There was a scene where Derek and his girlfriend were alone and Derek said "My Judgment Day was April 2011, when was yours?" And then there was the ending of the second season finale...
Isn't that really just what a game console is?
I noticed this article is tagged "terminator" and "skynet", but the first thing that went through my mind was ED-209 from RoboCop:
(Shamelessly copied from imdb.com)
It doesn't matter whether you build or buy, it doesn't matter what OS you run, what will matter the most is how well is the system maintained.
By maintained I mean:
- is it kept in a clean, well-ventilated environment?
- is it maintained periodically (opened up and dust blown out using compressed air, fans checked for proper operation, etc.)?
- is it locked down so that Ron Receptionist doesn't go install Whiz-Bang's Flashy Sudoku, Trojan and Keylogger?
Over the lifespan you're talking about, component failure due to excessive heat and/or dust-induced short circuits is probably your biggest concern. If the system is also locked down against malware, then it should just keep running...
(Owner of an 11-year-old Pentium III-based Dell box running Linux that's been his main media/CVS/DNS server for the past 7 years.)
You've never studied relativity, have you?
You left off my favorite:
Advanced yes
To better quote Douglas Adams:
Uh, the Yakuza?
Well there you go, there's your first mistake.
And don't forget Zeus, Satan, Buddha.....thank one of those guys!
You should get a +5, Funny for that.
I'm reminded of my high school days (early-to-mid 70s). We had these "analog computers"; basically there were these boxes that had an analog meter for displaying results and a patch panel where you used jumpers to connect various knobs (resistors), timing circuits (capacitors), and switches. We wired three of these things together to build a planetary landing simulator - it started as a lunar lander simulator, but then we added a knob for tweaking gravity :-). One meter was altitude, one was vertical speed and one was fuel. The object was to get your altitude to zero with your vertical speed below a certain level before your fuel went to zero. It tooks us hours to figure out how to wire it up, and many more hours of, um, "testing" to make sure we got it right :-). We really got wrapped in this thing; with all the knobs and switches and a little imagination it felt like we were controlling a LEM or something.
Analog computers rule!
Star Wars predates the original Battlestar Galactica by a year (1977 vs. 1978).
Although I wouldn't credit the advancements in prosthetics or bionics to anything in any movie or TV show. I'd credit it to R&D.
Following any of the advice in Writing Solid Code will guarantee that your code will become higher quality.
No, it was ninjas trying to frame the pirates.
The obvious solution to broken CAPTCHAs is to use a Vulcan mind-training device like Spock was using at the beginning of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
(Asked in rapid succession without waiting for an answer):
"Name the last 7 presidents of the United States."
"If a car leaves London at 7:00 AM for Glasgow at 90 KPH and another car leaves Glasgow at 8:00 AM for London at 80 KPH, at what time will they meet?"
"What are the three elements of the human psychie?"
"How do you feel?"
If you give the correct answers within 3 seconds, you're in.
This kid sounds like a character out of a Heinlein novel. Now all he needs to do is to use his new solar cell to power his home-built starship that he can fly to Epsilon Eridani so he can form a coalition of aliens to confront the evil slime creatures bent on destroying Earth, all before school vacation ends.
That was Alan Shepard's golf ball. Apollo 14.
There's been an "incident."
The picture is obvious - it's the wormhole that the LHC opened to the Atlantis base in the Pegasus galaxy. It even says so right on the window frame!
Anyone else having an end-of-the-world party tonight?
Just in case ;-).
Me too.
I saw the headline and thought "What? Wireless LANs and face-huggers? Huh?"
Definitely need more coffee...