@Squire Your point on arrows reminds of an amusing subversion I saw in a movie once. The big climax was a castle siege and during the day the castle defenders shot nothing but flaming arrows at the attackers. Then when night fell, they suddenly launched several volleys of normal arrows. The defenders had gotten so used to seeing fire, they completely unprepared. The rest of the movie was pretty mediocre, but that scene was pretty amusing.
Was that Timeline, by any chance? I think I know the scene you're on about... does the guy shout "Night arrows!" at the moment in question?
That film was awful... which is a shame, because the book was so damn good!
I thought the book was awful - a second rate Doctor Who knock off.
Well the theory is that Godzilla actually uses all the radiation and heat to fuel its own body but is vulnerable to kinetic attacks... Of course it does not explain how it resists the blast itself
Being Godzilla is like memetic Chuck Norris. You win because you are
But who would win if Chuck Norris decided to fight Godzilla?
Well the theory is that Godzilla actually uses all the radiation and heat to fuel its own body but is vulnerable to kinetic attacks... Of course it does not explain how it resists the blast itself
Being Godzilla is like memetic Chuck Norris. You win because you are
But who would win if Chuck Norris decided to fight Godzilla?
That's a tough one. Maybe a push...
But what if Mike Ditka took both of them on with one hand tied behind his back?
Well the theory is that Godzilla actually uses all the radiation and heat to fuel its own body but is vulnerable to kinetic attacks... Of course it does not explain how it resists the blast itself
Being Godzilla is like memetic Chuck Norris. You win because you are
But who would win if Chuck Norris decided to fight Godzilla?
I thought the book was awful - a second rate Doctor Who knock off.
Really? That wasn't my impression at all... although I suppose as a time travel novel it's not exactly mind blowing, as it focuses less on the mechanics of the time travel itself and more on the actual history and the people... but that's precisely what I liked about it.
For me, it was the fact that the students underestimated the medievals several times, because they fell into the usual trap of thinking modern = more intelligent and low-tech = stupid, that I liked. The reason I hated the film is because this really did not come across at all, and in my eyes, it totally missed the point. It wasn't meant to be "adventures in time with lots of paradoxes and clever plot twists!", it was more "let's look at medieval people from a modern perspective, they're not as stupid as you might think!".
The film did turn it into a second rate Doctor Who knock-off, though.
I was just thinking... if someone made a movie where the main character uses a katana-shaped lightsaber made by an ancient japanese jedi this character would be absolutely impossible to defeat, right?
I was just thinking... if someone made a movie where the main character uses a katana-shaped lightsaber made by an ancient japanese jedi this character would be absolutely impossible to defeat, right?
Unless a lightkatana counts as a doomsday weapon, in which case he will be defeated by an old magician or a boy with a slingshot, his girlfriend will trick him into beheading himself with his own weapon (by turning it on in front of a mirror or somesuch), or he will trip over and stab himself to death.
That main character would have no chance at all against the girl-next-door childhood friend yandere sith's grandmother's former roommate's levitating, plasma shooting chihuahua.
I was just thinking... if someone made a movie where the main character uses a katana-shaped lightsaber made by an ancient japanese jedi this character would be absolutely impossible to defeat, right?
Of course eventually he would get bored of winning all the time. That's when he hangs it up on his wall and buys an interstellar sushi bar. Naturally he'll blow the dust off it and bequeath it to the first entity who's story of persecution brings a tear to his eye...
That main character would have no chance at all against the girl-next-door childhood friend yandere sith's grandmother's former roommate's levitating, plasma shooting chihuahua.
But nothing stands a chance against an angry chihuahua... What if it's the chihuahua who wields the lightkatana (I really liked this one @Montresor_SP)
Doesn't matter if it's a lightkatana, dietkatana or katanazerosugar. Paws are downright terrible at holding things. That's why the experient sith pet owner modifies their pet's bodies with a couple of useful gimmicks. Such as a miniature atom reactor or absolute zero icebox. They even get a free water dispenser upgrade.
Lightsabers, katanas, hah, butterknives all of 'em. Now, if you have ever had the experience, these can be quite effective weapons, AND, these lil paws can pick up and hold the unimaginable, for that extra little surprise.
Which is why melee weapons made out of lasers are so deadly... for their users. The metal hilt transfers the very heat directly to the unprotected hands. Let's throw in those silly crossguards made of intense heat as well. Roasted yedi=sith shish-kebab coming up~!
I think it's even worse than that... I believe lightsabers are supposed to be contained plasma fields... if so the temperature may be anywhere between a few thousand degrees to a few million
"The deadliest edged weapons ever" I did not know that light has an edge.
As we could see, it does have an edge over the katana. -rimshot-
Since we already have sabers with contained plasma fields, I think it's time the jedi developed a Dirac sea saber. Their enemies would die out of pure fascination over such a device.
It doesn't matter the situation... alien invasion, zombie apocalypse, invasion from Hell... humans always win... What about a movie where humans lose and have to be rescued by another species? Or they just lose the control of the planet and have to learn how to live not being the dominant species on Earth? I once read an interesting short story about aliens following radio signals from Earth. Most of the story is about the aliens discussing what kind of civilization they will find when they get to the source of the transmissions and commenting how weird humanity looks and behaves... when they finally get to Earth all they find is a dead planet. They mark humanity as extinct in their database and start following the next signal. Unfortunately I don't remember the story name or author....
Therefore it makes complete sense that we can win a war against aliens with superior technology by infecting their computers with our viruses. It's easier to communicate with alien computer technology than it is to transfer files between a Windows PC and an Macintosh.
The weaker the weapon, the more effective it is.
It makes even more sense that we can only win the war using low-tech weapons after our entire arsenal of doomsday weapons (nukes, chemical weapons, laser guns, Death Stars, etc.) have proven ineffective against the aliens.
Everybody speaks English!
No matter which planet/star system/galaxy/parallel universe aliens come from, they do understand and speak English, at least to some degree. Or some other Earthen language. We can always communicate, even if peaceful coexistence is always impossible.
It's even worse when the aliens in question are simply reskinned humans with one or two miniscule facial differences. Might as well call them interstellar human ethnics and begone with it. The whole Star Treck franchise is overpopulated with such humans.
Which brings me to:
Human looking Non-Humans!
There is a long trend going on about how any sentient species has to look, behave, or share other kinds of similarities with humans in all kinds of fiction. Whenever it's aliens, demi-humans, time travellers, planewalkers or parallel worlders. They're basically humans in anything but setting.
Therefore it makes complete sense that we can win a war against aliens with superior technology by infecting their computers with our viruses. It's easier to communicate with alien computer technology than it is to transfer files between a Windows PC and an Macintosh.
Now we only need to make human software actually work with the OS they were supposed to be projected for
They're not innovative or adaptable enough. They're susceptible to our human germs. They're easily charmed by Japanese pop music. There's always something for us clever monkeys to exploit.
BTW, a good "humans lose" story is Eric Flint's Jao Empire series.
Artificial Intelligence is so completely logical that it will always come to the conclusion that humans need to be controlled or exterminated to 'save the planet'.
The Matrix, I Robot, Avengers: Age of Ultron & The Terminator are all prime examples of this.
I've yet to see a movie where AI turns out to be helpful or benign...
Or indifferent... I would love to see a story where the aliens arrive on the Solar system, everybody gets ready for the First Contact and the Alien ship just goes on passing by the system and completely ignoring any attempt to contact them.
Regarding AIs the same applies... an AI could just ignore humans and go on with its own plans...
Comments
Go and watch "The Time Warrior" on DVD instead.
But what if Mike Ditka took both of them on with one hand tied behind his back?
For me, it was the fact that the students underestimated the medievals several times, because they fell into the usual trap of thinking modern = more intelligent and low-tech = stupid, that I liked. The reason I hated the film is because this really did not come across at all, and in my eyes, it totally missed the point. It wasn't meant to be "adventures in time with lots of paradoxes and clever plot twists!", it was more "let's look at medieval people from a modern perspective, they're not as stupid as you might think!".
The film did turn it into a second rate Doctor Who knock-off, though.
http://www.howtobeadad.com/2012/9459/baby-fingernails-deadly-edged-weapons
I did not know that light has an edge.
Since we already have sabers with contained plasma fields, I think it's time the jedi developed a Dirac sea saber. Their enemies would die out of pure fascination over such a device.
Humans win!
It doesn't matter the situation... alien invasion, zombie apocalypse, invasion from Hell... humans always win... What about a movie where humans lose and have to be rescued by another species? Or they just lose the control of the planet and have to learn how to live not being the dominant species on Earth? I once read an interesting short story about aliens following radio signals from Earth. Most of the story is about the aliens discussing what kind of civilization they will find when they get to the source of the transmissions and commenting how weird humanity looks and behaves... when they finally get to Earth all they find is a dead planet. They mark humanity as extinct in their database and start following the next signal. Unfortunately I don't remember the story name or author....All computers in the universe are compatible!
Therefore it makes complete sense that we can win a war against aliens with superior technology by infecting their computers with our viruses. It's easier to communicate with alien computer technology than it is to transfer files between a Windows PC and an Macintosh.The weaker the weapon, the more effective it is.
It makes even more sense that we can only win the war using low-tech weapons after our entire arsenal of doomsday weapons (nukes, chemical weapons, laser guns, Death Stars, etc.) have proven ineffective against the aliens.Everybody speaks English!
No matter which planet/star system/galaxy/parallel universe aliens come from, they do understand and speak English, at least to some degree. Or some other Earthen language. We can always communicate, even if peaceful coexistence is always impossible.Which brings me to:
Human looking Non-Humans!
There is a long trend going on about how any sentient species has to look, behave, or share other kinds of similarities with humans in all kinds of fiction. Whenever it's aliens, demi-humans, time travellers, planewalkers or parallel worlders. They're basically humans in anything but setting.The aliens always have a fatal flaw!
They're not innovative or adaptable enough. They're susceptible to our human germs. They're easily charmed by Japanese pop music. There's always something for us clever monkeys to exploit.BTW, a good "humans lose" story is Eric Flint's Jao Empire series.
The Matrix, I Robot, Avengers: Age of Ultron & The Terminator are all prime examples of this.
I've yet to see a movie where AI turns out to be helpful or benign...
Regarding AIs the same applies... an AI could just ignore humans and go on with its own plans...