OnToMars
Now on to the making of films!
Member # 621
posted
quote:Originally posted by Timo: Also, Starfleet gear probably represents the bottom of the barrel: the military has never appreciated the latest in entertainment electronics...
Except that the military always has the forefront of the technological edge. It was Starfleet that probably invented the replicator in the first place, or certainly made most if not all of the major refinements to it. Headquarters would certainly make sure that their brave explorers would have only the very best when charting the deep unknowns of space for years at a time.
Perhaps Earl Grey isn't important enough for an instantaneous render, but what about medicines? I'm pretty sure the Tech Manual (which may or may not be confirmed by dialogue) that Sickbay keeps a stock of medicines pre-replicated for use in life and death situations. Have we ever seen the render time in a Sickbay replicator, particularly in an emergency?
-------------------- If God didn't want us to fly, he wouldn't have given us Bernoulli's Principle.
Registered: Jun 2001
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The forefront of ruggedized hardware, sure. But such things come at a price. Starfleet replicators, for instance, would, one imagines, emphasize working when everything around them is exploding over various aesthetic issues.
Registered: Mar 1999
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There was a time when the military was cutting edge, but today you will find far more powerful computer processors and frequently far more versatile and advanced manufacturing techniques in private hands rather than operating under government funded agencies.
The state of the art today is built into consumer products. The most state of the art weaponry contains computer components which are years out of date by commercial standards. This lag time only looks set to increase in the future.
Registered: Jul 2006
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Thats only true of common-use items. When yo get into really high-tech, military always has the very best shit years in advance- watch that show "From Tactical to Practical" sometime. As example, a cutting-edge military satelite's resolution is said to be three times better than anything NASA has at it's disposal. But we;ve always been best when thinking of new ways to kill each other. Fear and hate a powerful motivators.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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NASA has a tighter budget than the US Airforce, and NASA doesn't need or want to read your drivers licence from low orbit. NASA just wants to look at weather patterns, geological features, ocean currents and wave formations on the sea surface etc. For many such applications, NASA and similar agencies will use millimeter wave radar. So they're not that bothered about achieving that kind of resolution in the visual spectrum as this would only come at the expense of other equipment on the satellite, and would drain the budget from other projects. I'm afraid that example doesn't stack up. Makes a nice soundbite for a documentary though.
Among other examples of lag time resulting in market obsolescence of military hardware are the Type 45 AAW destroyers, will use an operating system based on Windows 95.
The Eurofighter uses components that were state of the art in the 80's, which is when the design freeze occured. Even Tranche 3 won't improve too much on this situation, as you can't change out too many of these components without building a new plane.
The F-35 will come into service post 2010, but when it does so numerous essential components will already be obsolete in market terms.
Granted, most of this covers only computer components and software, but by the same token, this is the area in which the advantage lies. Both sides can be similarly equipped, but if one side has a combat management system that is ten times better, the odds are immediately stacked in their favour.
Registered: Jul 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Timo: A whole baseball field could then be simulated within one of Quark's holosuites. Or, as is more probable, within three of them, all integrated even if physically quite separate.
The possibilites for safe sex are tremendous. You could sleep with a real person yet never touch them.
-------------------- . . . ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.
posted
Added realism? They're on a fucking exploratory starship, daily facing the dangers of all sorts of alien nasties from the microscopic to the macroscopic, yet they just can't get into their chosen medium of recreation unless it involves a simulated STD?
WizArtist II
"How can you have a yellow alert in Spacedock? "
Member # 1425
posted
SOoooo, if you watch porno long enough you can catch Visual Aids?
-------------------- There are 10 types of people in the world...those that understand Binary and those that don't.
Registered: Nov 2004
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OnToMars
Now on to the making of films!
Member # 621
posted
quote:Originally posted by Lee: Added realism? They're on a fucking exploratory starship, daily facing the dangers of all sorts of alien nasties from the microscopic to the macroscopic, yet they just can't get into their chosen medium of recreation unless it involves a simulated STD?
Only if you turn off the safety protocols.
-------------------- If God didn't want us to fly, he wouldn't have given us Bernoulli's Principle.
Registered: Jun 2001
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