42 posts lol.

Loldongs i have Old Man's War, Sun of Suns (read this shit), and the Disunited States of America.
Seriously, it's cash. Anything by Turtledove will make you think a ton.

Actually I was just reading an article about lasers. Apparently they've built a laser that's too powerful to sustain itself. I.E. it destroys itself when it's turned on. So yeah, laser guns=probably not happening.

>>2584

As I said, superconductors. No excess heat. Experimental devices blowing up themselves is not that uncommon. The next update will correct the problem.

>>2581
>Your objections can be easily ignored.
Does that sound like the grounds for a good argument to you? Honestly?

We could easily ignore your assertions as well because you have no data either, just a brief report that the ATL was tested in 2009 and "defeated" a ground target (keep in mind that the military testing something doesn't guarantee it's feasible, they have to test something before deciding if they should can it, after all); in a "show numbers or stfu" argument neither side will get anywhere, so it's best for everyone involved if you don't pull that card.

I liked this series enough to watch it. Far better than Picard and Crusher or Grandmother Janeway with her beloved family. There were characters again.

>>608

http://www.webpan.com/dsinclair/trek.html

http://www.webpan.com/dsinclair/ds9.html
" [..] That’s one of the great things about Paramount. Paramount left us alone. They always left us alone. They let Next Gen do whatever it wanted. God knows it let Deep Space Nine do whatever we wanted. It lets Voyager do whatever it wants. The studio is not the problem here. The studio is going to let you go wherever you want to go, as long as they believe that this is quality, as long as they believe it’s good work. You’ve just got to come up with something good." - Ron Moore, quotation from the DS9 link above.

apparently, the studio is fine as long as its not just a straight up porn smut-fest. This would conclude that it is Rick Berman and Brannon Braga who are the pair of titans who ensure that S-t-a-r=T-r-e-k remains an alternate spelling for 'Bury Your Gays' in the sci-fi genre of TV.

when Roddenberry died, the chance for star trek being progressive bit the dust. hard.

Even Star Wars, with its comparatively simple minded-ness on good/evil, has 2 gay characters.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Goran_Beviin
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Medrit_Vasur

>>2592

Star Trek has some feeling of clinical cleanness and prudery anyway, when it comes to the drives. No compassion at all, except some bloated determination to fulfill the orders and keep traditional moral standards up. It's hard to look more naive than Disney. Star Trek made it. You always get the feeling that all of the authors are either religious or some leftover trailer trash that never got into contact with 20th century social sciences.

i was a bigger fan than most and was always a bit mystified by its lackluster acceptance by fans. i thought Jolene Blalocks character was great (apparently im the only one) as well as dr. flox. i think i grooved on the special effects more than anything else about the show , nevertheless i think it was a worthwhile addition to the franchise.

An unfortunate casualty of a bad producer that was only looking out for himself. A good plot and advancing story line would have made it hard for the show to go into syndication, letting the producer make more money even after the show was canceled. Even when the script writers were allowed to start building upon their work for plots lasting more then a single episode, the damage had already been done to the fan base.

oh And the fact it was all a hologram didnt phase anyone

I actually believe this to be extremely risky, as it makes parts of your body vulnerable to two different new threats: viruses and Electro Magnetic Pulses (E.M.P.). The first threat is not so much prominent towards limbs, I imagine they are not so vunerable. A big concern would be replacing your eyes, if someone could hack into your eyes, they could completely control what you see. Worst case, they could use your eyes as an entry point for a computer virus that destroys your brain. The second problem is the biggest, E.M.P. Your entire body is basically a life support system for your brain. Therefor, if you replace any significant body part (heart, lungs, spinal cord, etc.) with it's bionic counterpart, you basically turn what could be a nuisance into your own personal kill switch. Hell, a hand tazer could prove instantly lethal.

So personally? I wouldn't really want to replace anything but my right eye (it's nearly blind) and my right ankle (fucked up royally). After that, nothing. I'd rather deal with asthma than worry that the next power outage will be the worst asthma attack ever. I wouldn't want to replace my arms, seeing how I doubt I would get any feeling through robotic hands. That would take a LOT of the flavor out of sex, I love the feel of flesh. I would like to keep my legs intact, seeing how losing control of my legs at any point in time would be shitty beyond belief. My torso (and everything in it) better stay organic. I'd rather face cancer, it gives you time to live at least. E.M.P. wouldn't. All in all, fuck super robo-parts, I enjoy only worrying about one spectrum of shit that could go wrong with me.

>>2576

I don't think you know anything about anything.

When you drive a car, do you worry that the onboard computer controlling fuel injection will get hacked and it will blow up all your valves?

>>2576
You had me until you mentioned sex. Sex is obsolete.

And I think what >>2577 means is that there's no reason to assume the parts will have wireless receptors, so "hacking" would be a matter of not trusting the agency which installs the shit. Which I previously mentioned is one of my main concerns.

>The Infantry is and will probably stay the queen of the battlefield.

Funny. I've heard same thing said about artillery and air force.

>>2579

I know, but this doesn't change their tactical role to be of purely supportive nature. You can't secure and hold ground with aircrafts or artillery alone. You have to send in troopers.

trooper drones? or a few well equipped super soldiers, basically transporting large numbers of troops is expensive, so bringing a 10000 man army to capture a objective or a 100000 basketball drones that don't eat seems the better option. because the hydroponics of ships can sufficiently sustain the crew add a 1000 extra marines to feed that's a huge hydroponics bay. 25 feet cubed per person so
(#ofpeople x 25)=hydroponics bay size in feet cubed
for just 100 people that's 2500 cubic feet just to feed them on the trip! what about hygiene facilities ,bunks canines and medical facilities! shure think about i could 1000 drones (small ones a bought 2.5 feet cubed) in the hydroponics bay used to feed 100 soldiers, and 100 soldiers vs 1000 small UAV drones designed to operate in constricted hallways and buildings, also sci-fi how about humanoid combat drones not an original idea though... so I'm stuck... the defenders will use infantry because they are fighting on home turf, my boys will be fighting from spaceships infantry or even a large crew of people isn't an option,(ps 25 feet of space too feed a person is dramatically understated its more like 120 feet. just used a low number to show how ridiculous using infantry to take a planet storm trooper style is)

Dunestar of before was because he trek in

>>2265
I figured.

Honestly, although I think Patrick Stewart was far to clean/handsome to be Gurney, I must say that he played the part well.

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if you think it was bad in the theatrical release or whatever the hell you watched, you should see the expanded version (its awful btw). their relationship is even faggy-er.
theres two things i liked about the movie. first, its very strange. you dont get enough of that in sci-fi flicks anymore.
second, if im remembering right its been awhile since i read the book, the movie introduces the concept of folding space.
i understand why most people hate the movie (David Lynch is one of them). it takes a certain kind of masochism to want to sit through something like that.

The Gap series by Stephen Donaldson(also the author of the fucking excellent Thomas Covenant novels)
the Gap series are Epic Sci Fi of the most Epic sort,fucking characters are the best.

'Halting State' by Charles Stross

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just ran across this thread and thought i would contribyuoot.

If you havent read Dune yet, the first ones really great. dont read the sequels they all suck.
same goes for Gateway by Frederick Pohl.

my favorite hard sf novel is Rendezvous with Rama by Aurthur C. Clarke. once again you may want to avoid the sequels.
speaking of Clarke, you definitly dont want to miss this (pic) The Light of Other Days. it is not well know, nor is it a classic but it is my favorite sf novel and i was never the same after i read it.

Asimovs short stories are, by and large, better than his novels but Nightfall (an expansion of an old short story) is a good place to start.