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Sun Nov 8
10 posts in the last 24 hours

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    The Man Who Predicted Handheld Computers In 1980

    Tadpole-Shaped Theremin Sings the Star-Spangled Banner

    Artie's Dark Past is Revealed at the Point of an Invisible Samurai Sword

    Your iPhone Could Become A Medical Tricorder

    High-Tech Gadgets That Detect Magic

    Full Service Robo-Urinal Makes Me Scared For The Future

    An Exoskeleton Is Fused To My Spine, And I Love It

    10 Robotic Pets That Deserve to Live in the White House

    Trick Your Taste Buds With Futuristic Pills

    First Prototype Of A People-Sorting Machine?

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of AEchinoderm AEchinoderm
    10/14/09

    In reply to The Man Who Predicted Handheld Computers In 1980
    "A logic named Joe". Murray Leinster, 1946. About a home logic (computer) connected to other logics in other homes through phone-like lines to share data (servers on the Internet) who becomes a problem when it begins to correlate separate pieces of information in dangerous forms (AskJeeves meets the Anarchist Cookbook).

    Nineteen-fucking-forty-SIX!
     Reply
    it must be bunnies promoted this comment Edited by AEchinoderm at 10/14/09 5:57 PM AEchinoderm was starred AEchinoderm was unstarred
    Image of ArthurByronCover ArthurByronCover
    10/14/09

    In reply to The Man Who Predicted Handheld Computers In 1980
    James Schmitz predicted the internet and the lap top in a Telzy story I reread not long ago. It was of course not the point of the story, it was just a passing notion, a way for his character to get information. Kinda like what we're doing now.
     Reply
    ArthurByronCover was starred ArthurByronCover was unstarred
    Image of capnrob capnrob
    10/14/09

    @ArthurByronCover: So did Murray Leinster in "A Logic Named Joe", in a sense. Unless we go back to "The Machine Stops", I think Leinster takes the pennant.
     Reply
    capnrob was starred capnrob was unstarred
    Image of stereobot stereobot
    10/14/09

    In reply to The Man Who Predicted Handheld Computers In 1980
    How many times can a guy use the word "terminals"?

    What is that? Killer robot animals?
     Reply
    stereobot was starred stereobot was unstarred
    Image of Sleepyhead Sleepyhead
    10/14/09

    In reply to The Man Who Predicted Handheld Computers In 1980
    It's a $2,010 prize. See, the numbers are in the same order as the year. 2010. Get it?
     Reply
    Charlie Jane Anders promoted this comment Sleepyhead was starred Sleepyhead was unstarred
    Image of Charlie Jane Anders Charlie Jane Anders
    10/14/09

    @Sleepyhead: Ha, I just spotted that mistake myself, and I'm about to fix it... Went into comments to see if anyone else was pointing it out too... :)
     Reply
    Charlie Jane Anders was starred Charlie Jane Anders was unstarred
    Image of ManchuCandidate ManchuCandidate
    10/14/09

    In reply to The Man Who Predicted Handheld Computers In 1980
    Flying Cars - Nope
    Floating Cities - Nope
    Commercial Passenger Spaceflight - Nope
    Doing Alien women - Nope
    HAL 2001 style Computers - Nope
    Sexbots - Nope
    Robotic Servants - Nope
    Space 1999- Nope
    Eugenics War - Nope
    Manned Missions to Outer Planets -Nope
    Twilight - Yes
    Reality TV - Yes

    Future fantastic, my ass.
     Reply
    ManchuCandidate was starred ManchuCandidate was unstarred
    Image of goldfarb goldfarb
    10/14/09

    @ManchuCandidate: to be fair, the was space in 1999.
     Reply
    goldfarb was starred goldfarb was unstarred
    Image of cletar cletar
    10/14/09

    @ManchuCandidate: On the plus side, we aren't all slaves of the apes. There's that.
     Reply
    cletar was starred cletar was unstarred
    Image of Wookie1972 Wookie1972
    09/09/09

    In reply to Tadpole-Shaped Theremin Sings the Star-Spangled Banner
    I WANT ONE.

    And give the guy a haircut and he looks like a Japanese Jon Oliver.
     Reply
    Wookie1972 was starred Wookie1972 was unstarred
    Image of CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard)
    09/09/09

    In reply to Tadpole-Shaped Theremin Sings the Star-Spangled Banner
    Sorry you crazy Japanese, I think Major Morgan got there first. I had one as a kid and it was fab..but it drove my parents crazy!! Heres UK's own James May in concert with Major Morgan doing a solo in An die Freude. Kicks in about 1.17. Sounds awfull and great all at the same time!!
     Reply
    CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) was starred CoffinDodger (If the typos crap. Blame my keyboard) was unstarred
    Image of nearscrape nearscrape
    09/08/09

    In reply to Tadpole-Shaped Theremin Sings the Star-Spangled Banner
    One of those little things might be kind of cute, but I just closed my eyes for a sec and in popped a vision of a dozen 3rd graders with 'em.

    On my doorstep.

    Christmas eve.

    Playing Rudolf the RNRD.

    (With the "squee-squee" sound from the Psycho shower scene in the background.)

    Pinch me.
     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment nearscrape was starred nearscrape was unstarred
    Image of Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
    09/08/09

    @nearscrape: Well thanks, now I'm afraid to go to sleep.
     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of Grey_Area Grey_Area
    09/08/09

    @nearscrape: Agreed. This technology must not fall into the wrong hands!

    Oh, too late-- the Japanese have it.
     Reply
    Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred
    Image of Grey_Area Grey_Area
    09/08/09

    @Grey_Area: This could be potentially more anoying that that horrible screaming monkey slingshot thing.
    Grodd, how I hate those things.
     Reply
    Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred
    Image of Hamslicer Hamslicer
    09/08/09

    In reply to Tadpole-Shaped Theremin Sings the Star-Spangled Banner
    The Otamatone makes me so happy!
    I'm sitting here laughing, the mouth thing! HAHA!
    -
    Now we need an orchestra of these things.
     Reply
    Hamslicer was starred Hamslicer was unstarred
    Image of jorel845 jorel845
    09/08/09

    In reply to Tadpole-Shaped Theremin Sings the Star-Spangled Banner
    Looks more like an eighth note to me.
     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment jorel845 was starred jorel845 was unstarred
    Image of Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
    09/08/09

    @jorel845: That's what I thought. Make it black and it's a happy little singing quaver, making a quavering noise.
     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of Chip Overclock Chip Overclock
    09/08/09

    @Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.: Yeah, that's my take on it too, it's an eight note. Cute!

    But a theremin it's not, since you have to touch it to make it work. A theremin is the only instrument that _stops_ working if you touch it (because you ground the antenna).
     Reply
    Edited by Chip Overclock at 09/08/09 8:10 PM Chip Overclock was starred Chip Overclock was unstarred
    Image of Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
    09/08/09

    In reply to Tadpole-Shaped Theremin Sings the Star-Spangled Banner
    Ah, Japan. Weirdness abounds.

    Minus the Muppet-y part (which you have to move yourself) and sperm tail, it might sell. It at least should have different colors.
     Reply
    Edited by Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. at 09/08/09 5:26 PM Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of Alessar Alessar
    08/20/09

    In reply to Artie's Dark Past is Revealed at the Point of an Invisible Samurai Sword
    Artie pissed me the hell off this episode. It was true that our intrepid duo didn't need to know the sword could make someone invisible when it was a simple snatch & grab, but once things started to go bad his agents should have been given appropriate tactical information right away. Myka was dead-on about this. Further, his ridiculous posture toward the secret service was unprofessional and caused trouble that shouldn't have happened. It was stupid dick-waving, that's all it was. He was having a snit after Claudia tricked him into thinking the former boss hacked his computers. He deserves a serious reprimand for it and if I were either of them I'd file a grievance. Artie should not be the team leader, he should just be the tech resource guy.

    I didn't like the faux-science explanation of the sword. Actually the last couple episodes where they've just let stuff be more magical worked a lot better for me than previous episodes where they've used REALLY BAD technobabble. Just call it applied phlebotinum and move on.

    Also, was that Lynne Cormack ("Dracula: The Series") playing his ex-girlfriend? It's not listed on IMDB but it sure looked like her to me.
     Reply
    Alessar was starred Alessar was unstarred
    Image of fraying fraying
    08/20/09

    In reply to Artie's Dark Past is Revealed at the Point of an Invisible Samurai Sword
    Oh look it's a new episode of Wharehozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
     Reply
    fraying was starred fraying was unstarred
    Image of MISS MERCY STREET MISS MERCY STREET
    08/19/09

    In reply to Artie's Dark Past is Revealed at the Point of an Invisible Samurai Sword
    Cheesy science aside, and maybe I'm showing my age - but this was my favorite episode yet. The more Saul and CCH, the better.

    Unlike many on this site, I LOATHE Claudia. No offense towards the actress, but the character is something out of late 1980's 'alterna-hacker chick' central casting.

    It's like you can picture the meeting between the producers and casting agents - all of which are over 40.

    "And she needs to be young, skinny and hot, but not TOO hot. Give her a 'cool' haircut and black clothes (shows picture of Shirley Manson circa 1995). Sarcastic but secretly lovable. And she just can't be complicated and smart w/o a reason - so let's give her a genius older brother!"

    It's never, ever a genius older sister.

    There's something so...'by the book' about this series. Nothing ground-breaking. Don't get me wrong - it's entertaining; but I don't see the DVD sales and fansites blowing everyone away.
     Reply
    MISS MERCY STREET was starred MISS MERCY STREET was unstarred
    Image of PostMarque PostMarque
    08/19/09

    In reply to Artie's Dark Past is Revealed at the Point of an Invisible Samurai Sword
    this show is a good series for light non-emotional invest but time worthy enough for remembering what the characters are.

    but i feel like Ben Bowler (?) farscape, SG1 9&10, would be a much warmer fit for the male lead agent.
     Reply
    PostMarque was starred PostMarque was unstarred
    Image of RICoder RICoder
    08/19/09

    @PostMarque: Ben Browder
    [www.imdb.com]
     Reply
    RICoder was starred RICoder was unstarred
    Image of Starlionblue Starlionblue
    08/19/09

    @RICoder:

    Browder FTW! And yes he would indeed be good. Trivia: He was in Memphis Belle.
     Reply
    MISS MERCY STREET promoted this comment Starlionblue was starred Starlionblue was unstarred
    Image of MISS MERCY STREET MISS MERCY STREET
    08/19/09

    @PostMarque: At the risk of sounding like cheesy Hollywood speak - Ben Browder is a huge star waiting to happen. Like he should be the lead in a top rated network series and getting his own EW covers.

    Imagine how much more like-able Lost's Jack would be if the character was played by Browder.
     Reply
    MISS MERCY STREET was starred MISS MERCY STREET was unstarred
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