This page[math.nyu.edu] quotes The Book of Histories by John Tzetzes as saying:
When Marcellus withdrew them [his ships] a bow-shot, the old man [Archimedes] constructed a kind of hexagonal mirror, and at an interval proportionate to the size of the mirror he set similar small mirrors with four edges, moved by links and by a form of hinge, and made it the centre of the sun's beams--its noon-tide beam, whether in summer or in mid-winter. Afterwards, when the beams were reflected in the mirror, a fearful kindling of fire was raised in the ships, and at the distance of a bow-shot he turned them into ashes. In this way did the old man prevail over Marcellus with his weapons.
Archimedes used a set of smaller mirrors to focus the sunlight on the main mirror first. This would greatly increase the intensity of the energy reflected by the main mirror.
You can do a lot more than simple chat with instant messaging programs these days. In my office, we've been using Yahoo IM to voice chat with remote colleagues internationally. We've also found that technical discussions via email are extremely inefficient and can lead to unnecessary "shouting" matches due to simple misunderstandings.
There's nothing wrong with using each for what they were designed for.
Slashdot Mirror
It also can't hide the fact that most 3D movies don't focus on the plot, but primarily on "throwing" things at the audience.
You forgot one: the sun
This page[math.nyu.edu] quotes The Book of Histories by John Tzetzes as saying:
When Marcellus withdrew them [his ships] a bow-shot, the old man [Archimedes] constructed a kind of hexagonal mirror, and at an interval proportionate to the size of the mirror he set similar small mirrors with four edges, moved by links and by a form of hinge, and made it the centre of the sun's beams--its noon-tide beam, whether in summer or in mid-winter. Afterwards, when the beams were reflected in the mirror, a fearful kindling of fire was raised in the ships, and at the distance of a bow-shot he turned them into ashes. In this way did the old man prevail over Marcellus with his weapons.
Archimedes used a set of smaller mirrors to focus the sunlight on the main mirror first. This would greatly increase the intensity of the energy reflected by the main mirror.
You can do a lot more than simple chat with instant messaging programs these days. In my office, we've been using Yahoo IM to voice chat with remote colleagues internationally. We've also found that technical discussions via email are extremely inefficient and can lead to unnecessary "shouting" matches due to simple misunderstandings. There's nothing wrong with using each for what they were designed for.