GorunNova

Doctor Who... 'nuff said. ^^

Now all we need... is a Dalek or Cybermen sitcom. ;p

Refresh rates are how many times the entire screen is redrawn every second (i.e. 60Hz = entire screen is redrawn 60 times a second). For LCD monitors the 'refresh rate' is the number of updates it does (60Hz means that the screen can change 60 times a second). Response time referrs to how long it takes for changes to actually happen on the monitor (i.e. 8ms response means that when a pixel is changed, the change will take 8 milliseconds to actually appear on the screen.) Note that response time and refresh rate are not the same thing. Refresh rate referrs to the number of times the full screen is updated, and the response time refers to the 'snappiness' of the actual changes when they happen. This is incredibly simplified, but should cover the basics without actually diving into technical stuff. ^^ Keep in mind that the listed 50Hz refresh is 50 Hz noninterlaced, while NTSC is 60 Hz interlaced. This means that every second the whole screen is updated 50 times, while with NTSC it updates every other scanline at 60 Hz (meaning, total refresh rate for any particular scanline is actually 30 Hz). So, HDTV updating at 50 Hz > NTSC refreshing at 60 Hz interlaced. 50Hz will probably be fine for TV watching, but for gaming that supports the FULL HDTV spec you'll want one that refreshes at 60Hz (I don't know if any consoles support 60Hz HDTV modes, though... I'd have to look it up.)

Speaking of 3D desktops for linux... ... and one from Sun that looks really impressive. I especially like the ability to flip the browser backward and scrawl notes on the back... ^^ Edit: Oh, and I forgot Novell's Xgl! Wobbly windows, edge grabbing that stretches, and a cube desktop with windows that roll over the edges...

... was insulted by the sheer number of copycats (pun intended) and destroyed them all with a wide-beam phaser blast. "There can only be one kick-ass evil cat!", he said, and proceeded to vaporize everyone in sight.

"Mr Stainton, an old friend who has worked with Irwin for years, added that the star had been looking for "things that can kill you in the sea"." ... I guess he found what he was looking for.

I say Data, because he can dodge lazers even though they move at the speed of light! (you know, being light and all.) Oh, wait... those are 'phasers', and they move slow as molasses. My bad. (Never got how sci-fi shows like Star Trek always had their energy weapons travelling far, far slower than even our primitive bullets... You see, we can't actually see THOSE in transit, but we can see these energy bolts cruising through the air.)

Yes, copied and revised cybermen really DO kick butt, don't they? ;) (would change vote to Borg, but frankly still thinks the Federation would win because Star Trek is entirely script writer created, and the script writers will always have the Federation win.)

Ummm... you can slander people, not TV shows. He's just a harsh critic, that's all. It's a TV show, not a religion! ;p Besides, as TFMF said, people are free to express their opinions, and Tenebrae just really doesn't seem to like the show. I can see his point, as it HAS become rather hit-and-miss quality these days... and I agree that they're being inaccurate (i.e. totally WRONG) when they claim it's the 'longest running Sci-Fi series', unless they put a qualifier on that (like, say, "longest running US-made Sci-Fi series" or something). *goes back to watching his official Stargate shoebox...* Edit: I think they're probably noticing that the series has changed too much, and this is probably just getting rid of SG1 to make way for a new series to replace it. Oh, and trying to get a more financially lucrative deal going in the meantime...

The question only matters if Plato was reading Zhuang Zhi's writings, or vice versa... and I somehow doubt that. ;) Also, Plato's POV was along the lines of our universe being a shadow of a true, primordial universe of forms, and that the seperation was necessary and an integral part of the universe (i.e. pretty much the opposite of the Matrix, where the matrix is artificial, not a necessary element of reality in the universe, and imposed on people.) At no point does Plato imply that we can actually go to the reality of Forms... merely that we can percieve it with our minds as an element of reality. To Plato, even though everything in the visible world was simply a shadow of the Form world, it was still part of the whole universe... very unlike the Matrix, which (when one is unplugged) is totally discarded and unnecessary. Zhuang Zhi's is much closer imho, given that it's about whether 'real' reality is when we're awake or asleep... 'Is the matrix dream real, or actual reality?'

SLI / Crossfire video cards, dual core processors, 64-bit systems... it's not a surprise that 'standard' stuff like the AMD 3400 and P3 you mentioned are dropping in price. Hell, single core 64-bit processors are dropping, too... Edit: Also, thanks to SATA, IDE hard drives of all sizes are dropping in price... Would have mentioned the AGP to PCI-Express jump, but that's old hat by now.

I'd actually argue that the whole episode was a bit of a Farscape riff... what with the whole postmodern playing fast and loose with the references, conventions and different ways of telling stories in Sci-fi, as well as the self-consciousness of the episode, not to mention the tongue in cheek aspect. I mean, from the get go the episode definately had a distinct Farscape odour about it. Personally I have to say that I loved it... BUT if truth be told, Farscape did it better. Anyhow, I'm glad that the writers and producers gave something different a go, even if I do look forward to next week and the prospect of watching SG-1 get back to what they're best at. ;) N.B. Is is just me or does anybody else suspect that those dodgy teddy bear suits are all we're going to get after all those hints that this season we'd finally get to see the Furlings? I agree entirely. I thought it was hilarious, and it DID have that Farscape feel about it even if that show was only explicitly spoofed for a brief moment. ^^ ... and I also think those are the only glimpses of Furlings we'll ever get. Edit: As for the Farscape short, Ben played Stark's role because he never did that in the original. The fact that Claudia Black played (vaguely) her original role, though, means they didn't shift him there because they had to... my guess is it's more because they had her characer Vala being far more attached to Daniel Jackson than Cameron Mitchell (i.e. they did it from the character's like / dislike perspective of the various characters), and so stuck 'em as the John / Aeryn combo. Just my take on it, though.

I think what they were going for was that she was infested with nanites when that guy touched her. (i.e. they were not replicating, just ... infesting her to make her feel like she's nuts?) (Edit: Nope... they weren't going for that. I guess she really didn't need those extra brain cells! :cyclops:) This episode was pointless and cliche'd... filler if I've ever seen it. -_-' Gee, aren't I glad I decided to start watching Stargate anything again. At least SG-1 10x06 had some hilarious spoofs. ^^ Edit: On second thought, I think they made this episode to try out all the classic horror film effects just for the hell of it (i.e. the face-against-the-curtain, the rising-bedsheet, the Jacob's-Ladder-Jumping-Around-Head, and so on)... Edit 2: Isn't it ironic that (I think) Richard Dean Anderson shows up more in this Atlantis episode than the SG-1 episode that was billed for his presence? ;)

o.o... no heat sink? That's not a golden rule... that's like forgetting you can't breathe without air. -_-' Well, you can always try putting another CPU in there with a heatsink and see if it runs... the socket may be fine, or it could have been toasted with the CPU. As for the clock difference, if the CPU has a higher clock speed requirement than the motherboard supplies, it may have either not worked (many chips from then refused to work with a different FSB speed motherboard simply because it was built not to) or worked at a slower speed... it wouldn't have been killed by just being attached to a motherboard with a lower FSB speed.

Yeah... especially since the video card is one of the biggest expenditures in a computer these days short of the monitor (sometimes) and the CPU (if it's a very good one.)

He can use it perfectly fine, as the graphics card memory is completely seperate from the main computer memory. As long as the computer has a slot compatible with the video card, there'll be no problems. ... if it's an AGP, though, and if it uses system memory for textures, you'll probably run into a BIG brick wall while playing a game, though...

... or maybe, just maybe, people don't like commiting suicide? I'm pretty sure that the Federation has some guidelines against ordering captains to kill themselves and their crew. Some might go ahead and do just that, but not on orders and definitely not a small fleet of ships.

I also voted Federation because the script writers will always make the Federation win in the end.

No... conversion to a blueprint, and rebuilding from that blueprint would be oodles more energy efficient than storing an insane amount of pure energy, AND the blueprint would be required in either case... energy's energy, so why bother shuffling insane amounts of energy when you don't need to? If one has enough energy to convert a person's body into energy, there's enough energy to just build a new body... on the other hand, if it isn't excessively costly convert and send, that energy could be used to supply some of the energy needed to make a new body. Now, if they could only do something about the uncertainty principle that locks away 50% of the necessary information to perfectly recreate a body at the subatomic level... unless, of course, such incredible detail is unnecessary. After all, it's not as if the brain works on a subatomic level. Who cares what the subatomic particles are doing as long as the cells are in the right places and in the right states? (unfortunately, I'm running into troubles accessing Wikipedia at the moment, so I'm running on current knowledge about quantum mechanics. Besides... Einstein didn't use QM (as far as I know, he didn't like it at all) and didn't know about current advances in physics for obvious reasons, so his view of how things work on a subatomic level were... inaccurate. Also, as teleporters / transporters would work on this scale, I'm not sure we should use Einstein as a huge authority on this... ^^')

I agree... cisco is a rather ugly little ghost town, and Pickard is ugly AND destroyed an FBI agent's career. (i.e. it's Sisko and Picard. What the heck is with all the crappy spelling all of a sudden? ... and given the names pop up every single episode at the starting AND ending credits, there's no excuse for it...) Edit: Well... Pickard isn't THAT ugly... ^^'

Hilarious, but... why's he standing in a hole?

Strenght? ... and isn't 'Petty Officer Lieutenant Commander' a little excessive? ;) From the first picture, it could be 'strength of grip on table', 'strength of crappiness of caption text', or possibly 'strength of blandness of expression'.

Just want to point out that I said 'in the employ of Starfleet', not 'members of Starfleet'. I somehow doubt they'd be on a Starfleet ship without having any connection to Starfleet at all (if only via paycheck), and virtually all the Enterprises were exploration ships, NOT warships. Of course, the series doesn't actually go into those details... probably to avoid that little thing called 'realism'. ;) Long term exploration = families and entertainment to stave off boredom and the problems that result from it (i.e. bars, holodeck, sports areas, etc.) It is true that the scriptwriters were putting an exploration ship into war-like situations, though...

My point was that the statement implied that the women were as useful as children, not that the children should be crew members. ;) Anyways, they may be bar workers, etc. ... but they're all likely in the employ of Starfleet. Also, are you denying that good R&R, having the kids taken care of while on duty, etc. etc. = more combat efficiency for those that do fight? They're just as important as those that actually are doing the fighting by ensuring they're alert, well rested, and not worrying about domestic affairs while on duty. That's true in real life as much as in Star Trek.

"Women and children carriers"? ... last I checked, one of those two was perfectly capable of acting in the same capacity as any other crew members, y'know. From what I've seen of the various Star Trek shows, families involved are couples that are BOTH starfleet personnel and probably picked intentionally for that. Strangely enough, that's one thing I don't have an issue with when it comes to Star Trek. ^^