Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 5]
Discussion
Zumbruk said:
Clockwork Cupcake said:
Grey_Area said:
Why thank you CC. 
Big fan.
Me also Big fan.So, I rectified that. Not only is it pretty much his best Culture book but the poignancy of knowing it'd be the last time I ever read one of IMB's 'fresh' lead to many occasions of a very dusty room...
If a few dozen vehicles were driving along the road and a wormhole opened up taking them back to the mid seventies, whilst the cars would presumably be the property of their owners? (although I would expect the State to take possession of both cara & drivers), would the manufacturers of the cars be able to claim IP/Patent rights over the technology in the vehicles?
21st Century Man said:
If a few dozen vehicles were driving along the road and a wormhole opened up taking them back to the mid seventies, whilst the cars would presumably be the property of their owners? (although I would expect the State to take possession of both cara & drivers), would the manufacturers of the cars be able to claim IP/Patent rights over the technology in the vehicles?
Would 1970s scientists even understand 2023 digital micro-technology and computers ? To patent something you have to explain how it works.
Punctilio said:
Would 1970s scientists even understand 2023 digital micro-technology and computers ?
To patent something you have to explain how it works.
Arthur C. Clarke is famously quoted as saying “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”To patent something you have to explain how it works.
I do not believe that in the 1970's the modern day would be "sufficiently advanced" and I believe that minds greater than yours would easily grasp new concepts.
You wouldn't, though. You struggle to grasp common decency, As your reply to this will probably demonstrate. And if it does not it will be your most inclusive post ever.
Sway said:
Off topic, but a couple of years after his passing, I discovered I'd completely missed Excession somehow.
So, I rectified that. Not only is it pretty much his best Culture book but the poignancy of knowing it'd be the last time I ever read one of IMB's 'fresh' lead to many occasions of a very dusty room...
I was the same but with the Hydrogen Sonata, but finding the best Culture book last must have been a treat!So, I rectified that. Not only is it pretty much his best Culture book but the poignancy of knowing it'd be the last time I ever read one of IMB's 'fresh' lead to many occasions of a very dusty room...
Punctilio said:
But I defer to you and the noted nonce Clarke's opinion.
Nonce? Wait, what? And, even regarding, does that negate my quotation?
There are few people that I dislike, Punctilio, but you manage to consistently come across as an utter dick. I think you do it on purpose.
Edited by Clockwork Cupcake on Sunday 19th March 16:25
glazbagun said:
The planet Jupiter is has kept its name since Roman times (the Greeks named it after Zeus who was their version of the same deity).
What did eastern cultures call it? Did they also name them after gods or did they have other poetic names?
Chinese names were originally (long time back, pre Shang dynasty, around 1000 BCE) observational: "bright heavenly object", "morning heavenly object", "occasional object", etc. There doesn't seem to have been a distinction made between planets and stars. What did eastern cultures call it? Did they also name them after gods or did they have other poetic names?
Later periods, around first Han dynasty ~1 CE, moved to calling them after the elements, metal planet, fire planet, water planet, and so on. And at some point in those thousand years there was a realisation that they were planets not stars.
Clockwork Cupcake said:
Halmyre said:
My first Banks was Consider Phlebas, and it was a wow! moment, big f
k-off space opera with knobs (turned up to 11) on.
Mine also. k-off space opera with knobs (turned up to 11) on.I have all the Banks and M Banks works, and have only failed to finish one; Feersum Endjinn, just can’t seem to manage it..
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