Love that story, btw--I think I'll have to find a copy of it this weekend so I can read it again.
I can see how so many people liked it and thought it was Asimov's best, but I never bought the premise of the story.
Buffy! If I wanted to fight, you could tell by the being dead already.
Glory ,'Potential'
Natter 37: Oddly Enough, We've Had This Conversation Before.
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
DXMachina - Jul 15, 2005 6:29:31 am PDT #243 of 10002
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.
tommyrot - Jul 15, 2005 6:29:48 am PDT #244 of 10002
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
The Pitch Black planet had only two suns and an ecosystem that made no sense.
Yeah. It's light out 24/7 (except for a brief period every 20 years) but the planet is inhabited by creatures who can't stand light?
Jessica - Jul 15, 2005 6:30:40 am PDT #245 of 10002
If I want to become a cloud of bats, does each bat need a separate vaccination?
Huh, I was sure I remembered three.
This new planet may not conform to any readily available sci-fi nicknames, alas.
bon bon - Jul 15, 2005 6:30:44 am PDT #246 of 10002
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.
Those creatures were like bats, I thought. They were underground, right?
I am hungover and out of it.
eta: I think the phenomenon of multiple stars is named after Tatooine, not necessarily that planet.
Connie Neil - Jul 15, 2005 6:52:13 am PDT #247 of 10002
brillig
A camera question: I have an old Konica SLR that's done me good service for the last twenty years. It has a battery for the onboard light meter, but that's it (low tech, I love it), but that battery's long dead. It's been a long time since I was au courant with photography, but I'm thinking the basic function of a camera should be unaffected by the onboard light meter not working, if I just set the exposure and everything myself. Am I wrong? I was going to get a disposable to take to the concert tomorrow, but a roll of film is cheaper
DXMachina - Jul 15, 2005 7:02:24 am PDT #248 of 10002
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.
That should work fine. As you say, you'll just have to estimate the exposure.
Or buy a new battery.
Tom Scola - Jul 15, 2005 7:03:05 am PDT #249 of 10002
Mr. Scola’s wardrobe by Botany 500
20 years old? How many megapixels did cameras have in 1985?
tommyrot - Jul 15, 2005 7:06:17 am PDT #250 of 10002
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
How many megapixels did cameras have in 1985?
Silly Tom. Cameras didn't have megapixels then. A tiny pterodactyl looks through the lens and then uses its beak to etch the image onto a slab of stone.
Connie Neil - Jul 15, 2005 7:15:23 am PDT #251 of 10002
brillig
1985?
Huh, it's older than that, I bought it in 1979 for college, I'd forgotten.
A tiny pterodactyl looks through the lens and then uses its beak to etch the image onto a slab of stone.
Actually . . . many, many years ago, a tiny bug crawled into the works of the camera body and died, leaving its body inside the mirror-viewfinder mechanism. When you look through the viewfinder, you see a bug corpse in the middle of the picture, but it doesn't show on the pictures. I love lending my camera to people who don't know about Buggie, because they always jump when they look through it.
Volans - Jul 15, 2005 7:29:52 am PDT #252 of 10002
move out and draw fire
I just watched Pitch Black again, and it's three suns. They talk a lot about the lighting and film color-correction based on which sun/s are in the sky at what angle. (Commentary track).