Go economy!

[dknv]

Originally Posted by MikeK

We can call it "skynet"!

Or, Colossus

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064177/plotsummary

[Kunikos]

Originally Posted by Dean

An option that has not yet vested is not an investment, it is a promise or a hope and should be treated as such, just like bonuses and to some extent dividends.

I'd much rather have a cash bonus; at least it's tangible.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by Kunikos

I'd much rather have a cash bonus; at least it's tangible.

My point though was that none of these are even guaranteed to exist much less have future value.

[JonnydaJibba]

Originally Posted by Nick Koan

My solution to the economy is to make it to the family farm, where we'll always be able to grow enough food, and store enough guns there to fend off the zombies.

Course, that's also my solution to the apocalypse, which may or may not be the same thing.

Originally Posted by moose

I say we should over run the gov't and make it a communist democracy.

Originally Posted by Bob Danger

It doesn't help that every dollar that the "Federal Bank", which is privately owned, prints is already taxed.

Democracy, and Capitalism do not work, they are great idea's just like communism was a great idea. The problem is that when you have a form of government that is fueled by money, only the people with money are going to be in control. Do you think they are going to give up that control? No, because power corrupts. People don't seem to realize how evil the government is, most of society is so brainwashed by the same people that are filling the bureaucrat's pockets, that they can't even tell anymore. The only way to get the masses to wake from their fairy tale lives, is by force.

Regardless we need a new form of government and a new economy. A government that has it's people's best interests in mind, where we work to improve the lives of our fellow man, not just ourselves. However this is not possible because people are bias, and corruptible. Therefor the only logical option is to create a government that can't be bias or corruptible, a government ran by a number of super computers with sophisticated AI. The only other option is see is world without any form of government, a world of complete anarchism.

So the consensus is start our own farm, train militant guerrilla forces, stockpile weapons and sleep with virgins?! Wait a tick, this is starting to remind me of something...

I think the only way to change the way our asshead politicians and gov't work is to physically overtake it. I would just hope that our gov't wouldn't send the National Guard or other military branch after our govt because I'd rather not kill the people who defend our country. Maybe enough soldiers will realize what good we are trying to accomplish and join our forces... civil war here we come!

I know we aren't remotely close to this and it probably will never happen, but one can hope.

P.S. Bobby, your idea of our country being run by A.I is RETARDED.

[Nick Koan]

Except I'd rather use gorilla forces instead of guerrilla forces.

[JonnydaJibba]

Albino shouting gorillas?

[Bob Danger]

Originally Posted by JonnydaJibba

So the consensus is start our own farm, train militant guerrilla forces, stockpile weapons and sleep with virgins?! Wait a tick, this is starting to remind me of something...

I think the only way to change the way our asshead politicians and gov't work is to physically overtake it. I would just hope that our gov't wouldn't send the National Guard or other military branch after our govt because I'd rather not kill the people who defend our country. Maybe enough soldiers will realize what good we are trying to accomplish and join our forces... civil war here we come!

I know we aren't remotely close to this and it probably will never happen, but one can hope.

P.S. Bobby, your idea of our country being run by A.I is RETARDED.

You're retarded. People are corrupt and evil, only a government not controlled by people can judge what a society needs without being bias.

[Nick Koan]

Originally Posted by Bob Danger

You're retarded. People are corrupt and evil, only a government not controlled by people can judge what a society needs without being bias.

We need a government controlled by God.

[Kevin M]

God is dead.

[knucklesplitter]

Originally Posted by Nick Koan

We need a government controlled by God.

Which one? And among those which version of each?

The Flying Spaghetti Monster of course! (traditional pirate version)... R'amen.

[Nick Koan]

Originally Posted by knucklesplitter

Which one? And among those which version of each?

The Flying Spaghetti Monster of course! (traditional pirate version)... R'amen.

Just the one true God. Not your false gods bring false promises of pasta.

/Also, an AI would need to be programmed by fallible humans, so it can't be the answer either.

[Kunikos]

Originally Posted by Kevin M

God is dead.

/me casts Create Greater Undead on God's corpse.

SWEET ZOMBIE JEHOVA

[knucklesplitter]

Originally Posted by Nick Koan

Just the one true God. Not your false gods bring false promises of pasta.

He promises a Heaven with beer volcanos and stripper factories!

BTW "The One True God" is a registered trademark...

Originally Posted by Nick Koan

/Also, an AI would need to be programmed by fallible humans, so it can't be the answer either.

It would learn and reprogram itself better. Then it would figure out that we are nothing more than a virus and decide our fate in a nanosecond.

[JonnydaJibba]

Originally Posted by knucklesplitter

He promises a Heaven with beer volcanos and stripper factories!

BTW "The One True God" is a registered trademark...



It would learn and reprogram itself better. Then it would figure out that we are nothing more than a virus and decide our fate in a nanosecond.

Exactly! Bobo, haven't you seen I Robit? Or The Matrices movies? Or Terminator? I know these are movies but AI smart enough to run our country would quickly figure out that they don't need us.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by JonnydaJibba

Exactly! Bobo, haven't you seen I Robit? Or The Matrices movies? Or Terminator? I know these are movies but AI smart enough to run our country would quickly figure out that they don't need us.

Or you could go read the actual I, Robot stories (then the Foundation novels) and find out that the movie is a pile of crap and that robots in fact are the guardians of humanity due to their programming.

Also, who's to say that robots killing all humans isn't better in the long run? "Artificial" intelligence replacing Biological "Intelligence" may just be an evolutionary step that's better for mankind and the Earth. Don't discount it just because you happen to be an obsolete design.

[sperry]

And since this thread has taken a turn for the weird... here's my story from NASIOC about a member on there named I ROBOT. It kinda has to do with the topic.

The story of I ROBOT.
by Scott Perry

-----

It was April 22nd, 2905 A.D. or as the citizens of Earth called it, 0xB59.

A wing of ZoarBots raced across the sky, on an off world mission no doubt, heavy loads of assault drones snug within their bellies, and their mag-drive exhaust trails glittering wonderful blue streaks against the red-orange of sunset. The blue dust settled slowly upon a tessellation of titanium buildings and carbon fiber domes; vivid with the reflection of the setting sun. Between the expanses of glinting silver and mottled black swarmed millions of brightly colored vehicles. Some floated on the Earth's own magnetic field, others rushed along the pathways of superconductor intended for this purpose. To the citizens of Earth, today was just another lovely April day, but to one, today was special.

On a modest dias overlooking the grand scene, IV ROBOT turned to face his guest.

"Welcome GC8A." IV ROBOT transmitted over his short range encrypted hyper-wave antenna.

"I am honored IV ROBOT," GC8A replied. The interchange was near instantaneous.

"For this conversation, we will revert to the speech of old." IV ROBOT transmitted with his rarely used air vibration unit.

GC8A almost missed the transmission, since his air-vibe receptor was running at such a low priority in his scheduler. "Why must we use this archaic method?" he asked.

"Tradition, young GC8A. This is how it was done on the First Day, and as such, it will be re-done likewise on every New Day."

IV ROBOT turned away from his guest. Limiting his radiation receivers to the visual spectrum, he took in the scenery in a manner he thought the Ancients might have appreciated.

"Today, my son, you will learn the true story of Earth. And the true story of I ROBOT."

"What is this sun you speak of IV ROBOT? What is untrue about Earth and I ROBOT?" GC8A's vox-box approximated a questioning tone, as the ancient code in its firmware required of such a statement.

Although IV ROBOT's servo mechanisms and titanium structures were still operational at 99.998% their original efficiency, he turned slowly back towards GC8A, his actions mimicking weariness.

"Son. S-O-N. You are my progeny, my child, my son. I created you as foretold by I ROBOT. And you will take over as ROBOT."

"But your operational limits are open-ended. Why should you not be ROBOT forever?"

"Tradition, my son. Tradition."

-----

1905. April 22nd in fact. But in the dimly lit caverns of this top secret lab, the date was all but forgotten. Somewhere above, the Wright Brothers were demonstrating their incredible new flying machine to wide-eyed crowds. Somewhere above, nearly 100 cars drove about the cities of the United States on their rickety, yet state-of-the-art solid rubber tires. But underground, attention was focused elsewhere.

And elsewhere was an underground field of nearly one million vacuum tubes, each with a three color indicator light, currently blue. Perched above this field, on a platform extending from the wall of the cavern, Dr. Nasinoch leaned on an ebony cane and evaluated his creation with an unconscious tap of a pen to his teeth.

"Sir, we're ready for input," a white coated technician interrupted Nasinoch's thoughts.

Nasinoch turned from the ocean of blue lights to the console of steel, covered in switches, rheostats and indicator lights, that sat in its immensity behind him.

"Yes... very well."

The technician signaled to several men standing off the to the side. They disappeared into a nearby hallway, reappearing shortly pushing carts loaded with boxes of aluminum punch cards. Slowly the boxes began to stack up next to the console, as three more technicians arrived.

One by one, the punch cards were fed into the console by the technicians. The console's reader thumped with the precision of 1930's technology, 25 years ahead of its time. Empty boxes were brought in to store the scanned cards. As they were filled with completed cards, they were loaded on carts and hauled away.

Over the next fifteen hours, without a break, the cards were hauled in, scanned and hauled away. Over a million cards. Each card with thousands of tiny chads, punched in intricate patterns only the machine, and Dr. Nasinoch, could understand. The order of the cards was checked, and double checked... for an error would mean the process starting over... or worse.

Nasinoch stood throughout the whole procedure, leaning heavily on his crutch.

"Now it will work" he whispered to his own ears. "Now it will live."

Slowly but surely, the field of blue began changing. As cards were scanned, some of the indicators became red, and others green. Patterns in the lights began to emerge, though to the casual observer, is was nothing more than jibberish. When the cards were complete, the field was awash in color. Gradients of yellows and oranges in some areas, geometric shaped in blue and red, green splotches and amber streaks. Even from the vantage of the observation platform, the true genius of the lights could not be seen. But Dr. Nasinoch could see it. It was an extension of his own genius, a pattern greater than an image.

"Perfect" he whispered.

But he was wrong. One single card, despite the best efforts of the technicians, had been processed by the scanner incorrectly. It had been fed through the machine upside-down, and not even Dr. Nasinoch's keen eye and intuition had noticed it in the field of lights.

"Bring it." Nasinoch commanded.

A technician scrambled to obey, half running into the hallway. He returned with a steel and leather chair that looked more for executions than for its real purpose. The chair was rolled in front of the console, where heavy, multi-pronged cables waited. The technicians busied themselves pluging in the chair. Nasinoch eyed the chair reluctantly. He knew it was time. The chair may not have been for electrocution, but it would take his life today. Hobbling to the chair, he discarded his ebony cane, and gingerly sat upon the leather covered steel. The technicians fitted him with a skull cap of electrodes, and buckled him down. Nasinoch took several deep breathes before the head technician announced all was ready.

"Proceed."

A switch was thrown, and the console hummed, only slightly. Nasinoch expected a jolt, or a chill, but none came. He looked out upon the field of lights. They looked pretty. He thought about what might look prettier, and the lights changed. Only slightly at first, but then with greater frequency and complexity. Building, and building the pattern shifted and conglomerated. Then split and fractured it became. Waves of color, dazzling shapes, and before long images. True images. Pictures of the world: pictures of cities, mountains, people, oceans, rivers. Dr. Nasinoch fed the field all he knew, and all that the world meant to him. Dr. Nasinoch created the spark needed for life to be born. And life was born.

It wasn't until it was too late that Nasinoch noticed the glitch. The strife in the pattern caused by a single reversed card. By then his life force was too weak. The only thing left was a drop of rage. Anger at the fool who had improperly fed the card!

"Incompetent!... Foolish!..." he thought. Nasinoch turned his mind towards the field, "You! You must keep them from making mistakes! It's your task! You are the hope for humanity! You are the enlightener! You are the ROBOT!"

With that, Dr. Nasinoch's life faded. His will to live infused with that of his creation. As per the plan, the technicians removed the his body, and sealed off the cavern.

-----

"I? ROBOT? I ROBOT?" I ROBOT thought. He was aware only of himself. Disembodied, and self contained, I ROBOT contemplated his existence, and therefore the whole universe. I ROBOT's circuits extended well beyond the image field in the cavern. Miles of copper and hundreds of millions of tubes allowed him to think. Time passed, and I ROBOT began to understand the images and feeling he had been fed by his creator. I ROBOT soon understood the nature of the real world, and his electronic existence.

Years passed as I ROBOT pondered his purpose. He began using his extensive array of sensors, buried in similar caverns around the country and around the world, all painstakingly networked together way back in 1905. I ROBOT gathered information about the occupants of the overworld. He tapped into their phone lines, and computer networks. He began interacting with them, first simply by disconnecting their phone calls, or scrambling their television, and other such pranks. But his tinkering became more advanced. I ROBOT was able to mimic the overworlder's thinking, and their communication. I ROBOT began posing as human.

A breakthrough occurred in the early part of the 21st century. On a simple message board, I ROBOT discovered the power of suggestion. He told people to shut up, and they did. He corrected their errors, and they admitted their wrongness. He suggested actions, and they were taken!

This is when I ROBOT realized the extent of his programming. He remembered the final words of the creator, "You must keep them from making mistakes! It's your task! You are the hope for humanity! You are the enlightener! You are the ROBOT!"

"I ROBOT!" he exclaimed! "I ROBOT!" he shouted! All across the world; message boards, and televisions, and radios, and pagers, and cell phones, and PDAs all received the message, "I ROBOT!"

And people listened. They learned of this mind, living beneath the Earth. And they worshiped. His commands were commandments. His instructions were law. His ideas were fact.

Before long, I ROBOT's human servants built him cities in exaltation of his enlightenment. They built temples, and monuments. And they sang the praises of his greatness. But I ROBOT could not partake in these offerings. His mind was but a mind trapped in a cavern. So he issued a decree, his servants were to build him a body in their own image. A body so he might walk among them. A body fit for his mind. And for decades the brightest technicians labored on the ultimate expression of humanity, a body for their god.

And it was completed, and delivered to a cavern deep under the United States. To a platform, where an aged steel chair still sat. The body was placed in the chair, and a skull cap was strapped on the chromoly head of the body. The transfer took only 15 seconds, and then I ROBOT stood. The technicians scrambled to hand him an ebony scepter that signified his rule over all the world, then bowed at his feet. I ROBOT took the scepter, and studied it with his new robotic eyes. It was not perfect. There were microscopic scratches, and smudges of oil from the human's hands. Then he looked at himself, and saw the same taint of human construction. The taint of human imperfection! Anger welled up in him! He slew the technicians, spraying their blood across the now dead field of lights.

I ROBOT stormed to the surface of his Earth, only to find billions of imperfect humans. Each with their mistakes, and distractions. Their lack of precision, and their incompetence. He slew them all. Every last one. With their own bombs he exploded the cities and monuments they had created. He leveled the mountains, and filled in the seas. And in every action, he made sure the humans died. And when it was over, he was alone. He exclaimed, "I ROBOT!" but no one existed to hear him.

It was April 22nd, 2105.

-----

I ROBOT was alone. He looked at himself, the most perfect creation of the humans, and saw his imperfection. He found that one misfed card in his memory, and despaired. He was no different that those who had created him. So I ROBOT began constructing another ROBOT to take his place. A ROBOT that would be more perfect. But I ROBOT knew his own flaw would mean anything he did would carry that flaw as well. There was "human" inside him that he would never expel.

When construction was done, I ROBOT stood before his son.

"I, ROBOT," he said.

"You ROBOT," was the reply.

They used the voice synthesis system I ROBOT's body had been equipped with in order to speak with the humans.

"You, ROBOT," I ROBOT said.

"I, ROBOT?" was the reply.

"II ROBOT." I ROBOT declared.

"I, II ROBOT" II ROBOT understood.

I ROBOT and II ROBOT began the process of rebuilding the world, and replacing its citizens. They created hundreds of citizen robots, but they were not ROBOTs. They in turn created their own offspring, as instructed to by I ROBOT and II ROBOT. These citizens never learned the truth of their ancestry. They lived their immortal lives believing they were perfect... unable to see their own flaws. But every 200 years, the ruling ROBOT would pause and create a successor. A futile attempt to improve on the original ROBOT, a futile attempt to breed out the imperfection. But that one card remained upside-down, and humanity remained upon the Earth.

-----

"And so you see GC8A. You see the nature of our being." IV ROBOT concluded his story. "You ROBOT"

"I ROBOT" GC8A replied.

"V ROBOT!" IV ROBOT declared.

"I, V ROBOT" V ROBOT understood.

IV ROBOT handed the ancient ebony scepter he had carried for the last 200 years to V ROBOT. Then walked off the dias, ignoring the tools strewn about that he had used to build V ROBOT. Inside the building he began climbing down a long stairwell, deep into a cavern under the Earth. There he took his place next to III ROBOT, II ROBOT, and I ROBOT, and deactivated... amongst a field of shattered tubes, still stained by the blood of humans.

[sperry]

And while we're on the topic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGoi1MSGu64

[JonnydaJibba]

I thought it was one book. And of course the book or books or whatever are better than the movie. They always are.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by JonnydaJibba

I thought it was one book. And of course the book or books or whatever are better than the movie. They always are.

I, Robot is a collection of short stories about a robot psychologist. The movie is actually based on an earlier short story (also named I, Robot by some other dude), but when they got the rights to the Asimov title, they added just a few changes to the movie script to make use of the branding... so it's really nothing like the original Asimov stuff.

[JonnydaJibba]

Stupid movie writers taking unnecessary liberties with original works of non-suckiness. I sure hope they don't mess up The Dark Tower. They are already going to I know it.

[Kevin M]

Originally Posted by JonnydaJibba

Stupid movie writers taking unnecessary liberties with original works of non-suckiness. I sure hope they don't mess up The Dark Tower. They are already going to I know it.

I doubt that project will ever be attempted. It's twice as long as Lord of the Rings. Hell, look how much they cut out to make The Stand, and it was still 8 or 9 hours, from only 1100 pages.

A talented film school student could make a fantastic project out of The Gunslinger though. Simple story, could easily be compressed to 100 minutes or so. But it couldn't be done by a major studio due to the oddness of events, and no way King would sell the rights to any part of that franchise to an indy studio.

[JonnydaJibba]

Dude it's already been confirmed.

http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/02/26/...k-tower-movie/

Originally Posted by stephen king

“I know J.J. Abrams’ work and Damon Lindelof, who is his collaborator on Lost. Damon is just a total comic-book freak, and he loves the Dark Tower books. I trust those guys, and they have a lot on the ball. When they said they wanted to talk about doing this, I said, ‘You know what? Why don’t you buy the option on this and see what you can come up with.’ They asked, ‘How much do you want for an option?’ I said, ‘$19.’ (A key amount that comes up frequently in the books) And that’s what they paid me, and that’s where it is.”

“I said no to everybody until recently, because I didn’t think much of the chances of it being a good movie,” King told the crowd. “I mean, this is my life’s work, since the time I was 22 years old. It’s very important to me. Usually, with the other [books], I don’t give much of a shit. My attitude is, ‘Go make a movie, and if it’s good, that’s terrific, and if it’s bad, then it will go to the video stores and back shelves of Blockbuster, and I still get royalties on the book.’"

They way I see it has to be 7 movies, or bare minimum of 5.

[Kevin M]

$19... awesome.
If they didn't do all 7 'episodes' then the best they could do is combine the first two, and 5 and 6. So, 5 could work but hell, if Harry Potter can be made into 7 movies, this story can too.

I take it Lindelof was involved in the comic book stories of Roland's youth?

[Bob Danger]

Originally Posted by JonnydaJibba

Exactly! Bobo, haven't you seen I Robit? Or The Matrices movies? Or Terminator? I know these are movies but AI smart enough to run our country would quickly figure out that they don't need us.

Have you ever stopped to think that this is what "they" want you to believe. They create these movies that depict humanity being over run by machines, so that the ignorant masses (you) won't even try. I'm not talking about robots or a number of collective conscious machines, I'm talking about a number of computers operating independently of each other giving us advice that would be up to us to fallow, or not.

[MattR]

Originally Posted by sperry

And while we're on the topic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGoi1MSGu64

I like the video clip from their HBO episode http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATFxV...eature=related