Some Republicans are kinda serious about actually stopping the US debt from growing. Thanks to Dubya's spending, that means they gotta come up with around a trillion dollars in budget cuts or new taxes in order to just break even! Even if they do manage to get near this target, despite the fact that the adjustment is long overdue, is going to have an interesting impact on our already fragile economy...
In Baxter's Universe, the Xeelee ARE humans
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It all goes back to Michael Poole. It's no coincidence that this series revolves around the Poole family -- Baxter is building up to explaining where the "exceptional" genius of Poole comes from.
As far as I can tell, most of Baxter's books are in the same universe. They may appear to be unrelated, but they aren't. Well, maybe not Time Ships, but while creating all the universes, it surely passes through the main Baxter-verse.
Check out the ultimate fate of Mike Poole, and consider what little was mentioned of the mysterious being which turned him into a super being. Later, when the people of the Raft come back into this universe, and Poole decides to care for them, they're already sitting on top of the ultimate travel machine -- go anywhere in space or time, this universe or the next. Suddenly, Poole's future begins to seem a lot like the mysterious being's past...
So, Baxter's Universe is a Very Large closed timelike curve. Woot!
Yay, someone else who thinks the ending was ballsy! Personally, I was amazed they remained true to what they were building up to.
Unfortunately, the majority of viewers has a totally different view of the Matrix universe than the W's have. The majority, when you get down to it, want to believe in human sepremacy over the machine. We want happy endings.
If you have tried to examine the Matrix trilogy, and the Animatrix, for deeper meaning, one of the underlying themes is that Humans cannot survive without Machines. There was a very unsubtle scene regarding this in Reloaded. If Neo destroyed the machines (and consequently millions if not billions of coppertops), the remaining humans would, inevitably through their use of technology, recreate the original conflict.
What is the Revolution of the final movie, anyways? The Machines are hanging on to the humans, letting them continue to exist, for some mysterious reason. Winning humanity some measure of freedom from the Machines is but the first stage of the Oracle's ultimate goal of... what?
Personally, I find the ending of Revolutions to be a happy ending which approaches reality. The millions of Coppertops no longer have to die, but instead will be given a choice of visiting the "real world" -- and most, I expect, will go back. Around the "powerplant" a new city of humans and machines will grow. A few of the children in Revolutions seemed touched by hints of prophecy -- I expect a certain little girl to discover how to cure the sky, and therein lies the next great conflict.
The only thing I really object to, though, is the crucifixion of Neo. It fits, but I still object anyways, Christians have too much stuff anyway!:P
snap.. crackle... POP!
This technology is, as their website indicates, possibly the cheapest, most effective way to launch craft into space.
By complete coincidence, all methods that truly have the potential to reduce the cost to lift a pound into space to somewhere in the $10,000 range seems to dry up. Disappear. Naturally, this has nothing to do with the fact that any such system would give the owner a weapon with global delivery and potentially as damaging as a nuclear bomb. Put something up high enough, when it comes down, release a lot of Kinetic Energy. Plus the delivery method itself will involve such tremendous energy that it will make an effective weapon in its own right.
The most recent example of this phenomenon, for me, is the evaporation of the company which had been working on carbon based materials to make a cheap space elevator. Last time I visited their website, there was a mention of an upcoming defense department grant. Now I can't find them at all.
zrrrtKLACK!
With my Paranoia reduced, I of course realize that I am brain damaged and have been hallucinating most of these instances I am referring to, since I can't find any evidence of them. Clearly, wearing that Hat makes be insane, as per some definitions of "Paranoia"
Have a nice day!
Homeopathy is ludicrous in and of itself, however this particular biological effectis fairly well documented, and is why homeopathy is able to create the illusion of working.
There's even a branch of medical science on precisely this process of using slight doses of poisons which your system can easily deal with. Call it exercising your biological system on the cellular level, it does work.
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Some Republicans are kinda serious about actually stopping the US debt from growing. Thanks to Dubya's spending, that means they gotta come up with around a trillion dollars in budget cuts or new taxes in order to just break even! Even if they do manage to get near this target, despite the fact that the adjustment is long overdue, is going to have an interesting impact on our already fragile economy...
As far as I can tell, most of Baxter's books are in the same universe. They may appear to be unrelated, but they aren't. Well, maybe not Time Ships, but while creating all the universes, it surely passes through the main Baxter-verse.
Check out the ultimate fate of Mike Poole, and consider what little was mentioned of the mysterious being which turned him into a super being. Later, when the people of the Raft come back into this universe, and Poole decides to care for them, they're already sitting on top of the ultimate travel machine -- go anywhere in space or time, this universe or the next. Suddenly, Poole's future begins to seem a lot like the mysterious being's past...
So, Baxter's Universe is a Very Large closed timelike curve. Woot!
Yay, someone else who thinks the ending was ballsy! Personally, I was amazed they remained true to what they were building up to.
Unfortunately, the majority of viewers has a totally different view of the Matrix universe than the W's have. The majority, when you get down to it, want to believe in human sepremacy over the machine. We want happy endings.
If you have tried to examine the Matrix trilogy, and the Animatrix, for deeper meaning, one of the underlying themes is that Humans cannot survive without Machines. There was a very unsubtle scene regarding this in Reloaded. If Neo destroyed the machines (and consequently millions if not billions of coppertops), the remaining humans would, inevitably through their use of technology, recreate the original conflict.
What is the Revolution of the final movie, anyways? The Machines are hanging on to the humans, letting them continue to exist, for some mysterious reason. Winning humanity some measure of freedom from the Machines is but the first stage of the Oracle's ultimate goal of... what?
Personally, I find the ending of Revolutions to be a happy ending which approaches reality. The millions of Coppertops no longer have to die, but instead will be given a choice of visiting the "real world" -- and most, I expect, will go back. Around the "powerplant" a new city of humans and machines will grow. A few of the children in Revolutions seemed touched by hints of prophecy -- I expect a certain little girl to discover how to cure the sky, and therein lies the next great conflict.
The only thing I really object to, though, is the crucifixion of Neo. It fits, but I still object anyways, Christians have too much stuff anyway! :P
snap.. crackle... POP! This technology is, as their website indicates, possibly the cheapest, most effective way to launch craft into space. By complete coincidence, all methods that truly have the potential to reduce the cost to lift a pound into space to somewhere in the $10,000 range seems to dry up. Disappear. Naturally, this has nothing to do with the fact that any such system would give the owner a weapon with global delivery and potentially as damaging as a nuclear bomb. Put something up high enough, when it comes down, release a lot of Kinetic Energy. Plus the delivery method itself will involve such tremendous energy that it will make an effective weapon in its own right. The most recent example of this phenomenon, for me, is the evaporation of the company which had been working on carbon based materials to make a cheap space elevator. Last time I visited their website, there was a mention of an upcoming defense department grant. Now I can't find them at all. zrrrtKLACK! With my Paranoia reduced, I of course realize that I am brain damaged and have been hallucinating most of these instances I am referring to, since I can't find any evidence of them. Clearly, wearing that Hat makes be insane, as per some definitions of "Paranoia" Have a nice day!
Homeopathy is ludicrous in and of itself, however this particular biological effectis fairly well documented, and is why homeopathy is able to create the illusion of working. There's even a branch of medical science on precisely this process of using slight doses of poisons which your system can easily deal with. Call it exercising your biological system on the cellular level, it does work.