The Thing So Far

So far, I really like the movie. Its very grim, which I always enjoy. It's suspenseful, and its creepy. The scene with the monster and the dogs was wonderfully gory, and I know that i'm going to like the rest of the movie. One thing however, why does the snow base have a flamethrower? I mean, its not like he took an arisol can and used a lighter. He had a legitimate flamethrower, tank and everything. I mean, would you really think that its necesarry in an arctic base? I dont think so. Conveniently they have one, so they arent going to get killed off one by one like in Alien. Atleast yet. I know the outcome of the movie (spoilers ftw!), so i know everyone panics and starts questioning one another and the like. Which is really kinda stupid, because you cant cut off someones head just because you think they're a monster. The blood testing was smart, but they should have done it way sooner. I know The Thing wont dissapoint, and I know when I see the remake/prequal next weekend I wont be dissapointed either. Here's to good sci fi movies, non cheesy, actually entertaining sci fi movies.

Rampancy

After reading several books that involve AI, there's really only one major downfall in creating a computer that can learn. It is the threat of rampancy. An AI will eventually no longer be able to be controlled by the protective algorithms in place, and the AI loses its ability to reason. It may run normally (unlikely), it may decide that it hates humanity for creating it but limiting its ability to function (I have no mouth...), or it may try to be more human and form a relationship with another rampant AI (Halo). These possibilities are not very promising, so i'm sure that if we created an actually thinking robot, we would install some sort of failsafe that would kick in after say, 10 or 20 years of service. This would protect the crews in deep space expeditions, but you would have to have multiple copies of the AI, or different ones. All in all, AI would drastically help us run our lives, we shouldnt turn them into robot servants like iRobot, but they could run our weapons systems, conducting cybernetic warfare with the opposing sides, they could eventually pilot our space fairing warships, and if we keep them in check, they will b very effective.

In Regards to Plasma Weapons

Super weapon? or strange child toy?

We're a long way off. When you look at videogames like halo, that depict rapid fire plasma weapons, plasma based explosives, and even supercompressed plasma swords, that's not going to happen any time soon. We hardly know how to make plasma, let alone contain it and figure out a way to use it as a harmful projectile. If we just shot pure plasma at something, then it would dissipate before it could do any damage. Halo's plasma words by supercondensing it inside a battery, and then when you pull the trigger, an electromagnetic field is formed around a small piece of plasma and is fired out the end of the gun, this magnetic field stays in place until it hits the target, which gets burned severely. I don't think we're going to have plasma weapons for a long time. It's not practical. It would be far too expensive, and it would probably become the new atomic bomb. EVeryone would want one, and we would probably destroy the world with some sort of plasma bomb. Even if we're secretly close, I hope we dont get around to commercially producing plasma weapons, I like my face how it is thank you very much

Ender's Game Really is Ender's Game

So after reading into the book where Ender has to deal with Bonzo, I cannot help but think of this:

This poor guy gets owned, just like Bonzo does. I find it eerie that people have the brain power to actually do this, but smart people will be smart. I really like the book so far, Ender is a very likable character, and you really emphathize for him when he's feeling angry or distressed. His manic depression right now is a bit of a bother, but i'm sure he will pull through. I find it appalling how I.F. is treating Ender, designing tasks and fixing the games just so Dragon Army will lose. Yet Ender pulls through. Nothing can deter his willpower in a fight, and its scary that a 10 year old is this intelligent. I feel like i'm reading into the mind of a 20 year old genius, not a 10 year old. The plot is a bit confusing however. The coincidal events with Val and Peter (super jerk) are confusing, and i fail to see how how a 12 and 14 year old are duping leaders of the world. but its a book, so I guess anything can happen. I hope Ender pulls through, and i'm not going to SparkNotes anything because I actually like the book. Good luck Ender. You're going to need it.

"The Thing". "What thing?" "The Thing"

After watching the first 30 minutes of the original The Thing, I'm so far impressed by the movie. It doesn't look much different from what a movie today would look like, and it has proved to be entertaining for anyone dies. After reading the Norwegian translation screamed by the "crazed gunman", I was amused. Turns out that if anyone in the audience spoke norwegian, the entire movie would have been spoiled.

(The Norwegian said to MacReady and the men, in Norwegian: "Se til helvete og kom dere vekk. Det er ikke en bikkje, det er en slags ting! Det imiterer en bikkje, det er ikke virkelig! Kom dere vekk, idioter!" This is translated to: "Get the hell outta there. That's not a dog, it's some sort of thing! It's imitating a dog, it isn't real! Get away, you idiots!" ) Shows that we should all know our Norwegian so we don't get assimilated by an alien creature.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing the 2011 Remake, I'm sorry: Prequal. The movie is allegedly a prequal to the 1982 classic, but it looks the same to me so far. Here's to hoping the new movie is worth my ten dollars. I'll do my best not to read Rotten Tomatos

Sand Queens

What a jerk, Simon Kress got what was coming for him. Not only did he disobey Carla's orders not to force them to fight, he's also a jerk for wanting them to fight. Such sadism cannot go unpunished, and it was a relief to hear he get what he deserved. All in all, it was an interesting story. I always enjoy a nice sci fi short story, and this supplimented CN quite well. I only wonder how things work between Carla and her partner, Shade. Does he worship her? Or are they married? Or does he simply work with her to spread his fellow sandkings. There were several issues with the story though. First off, how would the sandkings be inteligent enough to know to sabotage his hovercar, cut the exterminator's fuel lines, and other such nonsensically smart things for a bug to do. And why couldn't Simon walk to a nearby house, surely he has neighbors. Plot holes always get me in stories, especially when they simply aren't explained. But sandkings was good, a strong 4 out of 5. It was pleasantly less morbid than ...I Must Scream. More gorey, but its nice to see a jerk get whats coming for him. But gore never bothers me anyway. I didn't understand why the orange sandkings had Simon's face though. That made no sense what so ever. Anyway, thought I'd get my thoughts down. Hopefully I'll post a review of The Thing next weekend. Cheers to a hopefully good movie!