So quiet, so very quiet...

May 16, 200010 posts by 8 posters
10 posts
Adam Foster

Is this a ghost newsgroup? Normally there's lots of posts right after the broadcast of a new Futurama, but this time I've seen two or three relating to it. Hello? Anybody there?

I was laughing out loud almost right the way through - Comrade Greeting Card had me in stitches. Just shows that you can never trust technology. And as for the sight of a naked Mom and Farnsworth - eep. Is this part of a campaign to get Futurama moved to a more suitable timeslot?

Well, I'll use this as an opportunity for macro-DYNs for the Mothers' Day episode, not my usual irrelevant points nobody else would care to notice. Here goes... :-)

* Loads of familiar robots in the crowds. Everyone from Fatbot to the robot preacher, not forgetting Calculon, one of the robotic saxophones from 1ACV02, the policebot, the Crushinator and Destructor, just to name a few. And Monique and a Hookerbot 5000 talking to Clamps - I really don't want to know what's going on there.

* Bender seems to hang out with a pretty famous bunch of robots - either that or the robots depicted in wax form were the prototypes of more popular designs.

* The toddler robot being held by its mother (?) appears to have leaked coolant over her shoulder. I guess that's just one of the reasons why robots prefer to leave the production of new robots to Mom's Friendly Robot Company.

* The world's greatest robot artist? Poor Aaron - I guess his abstract style never really caught on with other robots. More information at http://www.scinetphotos.com/aaron.html - complete with example output.

* The new kitchen area in the Planet Express lounge. They had it installed last week, but it looks like it's going to be a regular feature. Time to update floorplans, methinks. :-)

* The tiny cleaning robot carrying a banner. Can anyone read it? It's just below the resolution of this 'ere MPEG. :-/

* Are they sheets of hand-written calculations being burned by the robots? If they are, then they must be showing their mathematical superiority over the humans. Can YOU do complex differential calculus in your head?

* A suicide booth right next to the ATM? A sensible, and convenient, place to put it, no doubt. Has Mom's Friendly Robot Company bought Stop 'n' Drop? Or are Mom's Friendly Artificial Intelligence Chips in everything now, from suicide booths to bedroom lamps?

* Was that Quantum soup in the Campbell's-like tin? Yummy - although I hear Primeval Soup is better value, and doesn't suffer from collapsing wavefunctions. Just don't leave an open can in the fridge for too long...

* Morbo and Linda (?) are being robbed by their own studio cameras. It took me a while to notice, but I bet everyone else spotted it immediately.

* The wheel a forgotten technology? Various robots use them - although presumably Mom managed to patent it under a different name, and thanks to some smart, expensive lawyers managed to get the courts to disregard all prior art. Kind of like Microsoft and mail-merge, symbolic links and so on - you can patent anything if you can get the wording right. I hope Fry is ready for the legal battles.

* Exactly whose corsets are they lying on the floor? Farnsworth's? Eeep. Perhaps it would be best not to ask.

* Albino gorillas are incredibly rare, at least in the 20th/21st centuries. Apparently there's only one albino gorilla in captivity - a specimen imaginatively named 'Snowflake'. Either Farnsworth did some genetic engineering, or 'novelty' animals are more common in the 31st century.

That's enough for now, and remember - FILE DELETION IS MURDER!

Adam Foster

Adam Foster - [email] - [email] 'We must move forward, not backward, upward, not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom.' - Kodos

I don't know, it's really weird around here lately.

Yes, Quantum soup. Specifically, it was leek soup. Full name? Quantum Leek soup. A quick reference to everyone's favorite time-travel, body-swapping show.

Sweepings Worker bees can leave Even drones can fly away The queen is thier slave

*Please note* -- I have a tendency to post while stoned. Apologies in advance.

In article , [email] (Belly Bombers) wrote:

Good writers. Have a cookie.

The queen can fly too. That's how colonies split and move.

Ben [email] http://www.netins.net/showcase/benssite/

#!/bin/perl -sp0777i<X+d*lMLa^*lN%0]dsXx++lMlN/dsM0<j]dsj $/=unpack('H*',$_);$_=`echo 16dio\U$k"SK$/SM$n\EsN0p[lN*1 lK[d2%Sa2/d0$^Ixp"|dc`;s/\W//g;$_=pack('H*',/((..)*)$/) Want to know what this is? http://dcs.ex.ac.uk/~aba/rsa/
grosseAdam Foster

They were punch-cards, which were used to program mainframe computers before the advent of reel-to-reel tape. I think. You might've seen them in "Much Apu About Nothing" when Apu showed off the world's first punch-card Tic-Tac-Toe game.

Adam Fostergrosse

In article , grosse wrote:

I think you're right - I found some similar looking cards at http://members.aol.com/PattonsGHQ/ibm.html - they're the same sort of dimensions and have the same cut-off corner. These are very early punch-cards - the ones I'm more familiar with look quite different, using binary instead of decimal notation. My dad used to program computers with them in his student days - he must be one of the original computer nerds.

Anyone got a high-quality framegrab so I can investigate further? This MPEG's a tad fuzzy, and I wouldn't be too surprised if there is actual information on those cards.

Another moment defining Futurama as nerd entertainment - and I like it. In the unlikely event that some Futurama people are reading this - more please. :-)

Adam Foster

Adam Foster - [email] - [email] 'We must move forward, not backward, upward, not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom.' - Kodos
James W Sager IiiAdam Foster

Excerpts from netnews.alt.tv.futurama: 17-May-100 Re: So quiet, so very quiet...Adam [email] (1313) by

Bleh, been there done that says,"If you can read this, you have too much time on your hands or you just own an out dated computer."

Move on to Numerology, lots of numbers used in the show I'm pretty sure.

In article , James W Sager Iii wrote:

sure.

Ok, numerology,... let's see...

Numerology and Futurama have already disagreed on one occasion.

According to what I've read, numerology predicts that the Republican candidate will win this year's election, since it will be a prime-numbered presidency, and every prime-numbered President since Andrew Johnson has been Republican.

Bender in "A Head On My Shoulders" says "Have you met my friend Al Gore?", while showing off some currency. Unless they pulled another Hamilton or Franklin, that would imply that Gore became President.

Might be interesting to see which one is correct.

FalconPain

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.
grossefalconpain

I'm sure society would want to immortalize the creator of the Internet, whatever his political aspirations.

I know, I'm going to hell for that one.

Larryfalconpain

On Wed, 17 May 2000 20:39:38 GMT, [email] wrote:

There are two major possibilities, 1. Al Gore bucks the trend and wins in 2000 (shudder). 2. Bush Junior wins in 2000 (shudder) and then Al Gore goes on to be president in 2004 or 2008 (shudder).

Alternately, a third party could win somehow. I hear that the Libertarians and Reform Party have over 1% between them. If they gain 2% per week from now till November . . . (Arrrrrrrg - runs screaming from the room in terror).

I'll be in hiding for the next couple of terms, let me know when we're safe. . .

"Out of the woods?? We're not ever through the Bushes."

--Larry

Willy PeteAdam Foster

Why waste time trying to decide between Chicken Noodle and Vegetable Beef? Chef Schr�dingers "Quantum Soup" is actually BOTH at the same time, at least until you open the can!