"Nooo! I created the Laser-Equipped Armoured Scorpion of Death to be used for good, not evil! To help mankind, not destroy it!"

On "A Lady in Waiting" and the role of women in all this — it's interesting to note that there's a ballad about Robin Hood and Maid Marian, from the 17th or 18th century (so pretty late, but still far from modern), in which Maid Marian dresses up as a man, grabs a sword, and engages in some pretty kick-ass…

While President Truman condemns this "Kremlin inspired" action, Stalin says it is "an internal matter" and that the invasion is in fact "the will of the Yugoslav people."

Ah, I missed the fact that the cylinder is spun each round. For some reason I assumed one initial spin only, and then proceeding forward, firing chamber after chamber.

But your chance of surviving 100 pulls is always exactly zero, which is never really the case with independent random events like birth control failure. The chance of failure may approach 100% over a long enough time span, but it just doesn't work the same way.

Right, this is why that "Russian roulette" analogy annoyed me when I read the article.

Yeah, this and the Cantina are the two scenes in the movie where the background music actually makes sense in-universe, and we can assume the characters are hearing it too. :P

It was refreshing to read the bit about conscious machines, because for once it's an argument that actually considers the machines themselves as thinking, self-aware beings, rather than merely as objects for us to fear. However, I'd say the arguments listed are good reasons for developing a legal framework to protect…

Also: Al Gore! Al Gore, Al Gore, Al Gore. Al Gore? Gore! Al.

I think even once its glory days fade, Minecraft will remain more comparable to the Mario franchise, or Tetris, or something like that, rather than to fads or various pan-flashes. It's unlikely to be forgotten any time soon. I agree that it's a bit premature to compare Minecraft to Legos in terms of staying power or…

Brain plasticity is an amazing thing. It's also a major reason why I feel sceptical whenever anyone claims that our brains are hardwired to think a particular way. Our brains are quite capable of re-wiring themselves, to a surprisingly great extent, based on all sorts of things — both strange conditions and injuries,…

Aye, the "pennies in terms of government spending" bit is what I was thinking of. :P

Argh. I usually like many of your posts, but I have to say this style of comment annoys me. "Here's my view. Now, I'm not going to defend it. I don't care about your replies. Go away." The point of these comments, as I understand them, is discussion. What's the point of saying "I agree," and essentially nothing else,…

This implies that watching the rest of Star Trek Into Darkness doesn't feel like watching Galaxy Quest.

Rather like curing a headache by shooting oneself through the head. It's absolutely true that civilization brought us a host of ills, but... I want to go to space someday. Also, robots. Robots are cool. Boo to you, Luddites.

Most of us won't ever visit space.

Argh! You didn't integrate the text in the image into the grammar of your post! ''You sense, much butthurt, you sense in me''? That's neither normal-talk nor Yoda-talk! It's just poorly worded! Now I'm really annoyed!

Considering Star Wars was pretty explicitly inspired by Japanese action films from the '50s and '60s, that would merely make it a neatly circular flow of culture. Also, your comment is silly, so I'm kind of hoping it was meant to be sarcastic, though I can't quite tell.

The right answer is always to reject causality, because who doesn't want their interstellar spaceship to also be a time machine? :D