posted
I thought Sharon didn't actually do anything about the Galactica's virus, she just hit the Cylon battlegroup with a virus of her own. It was the memory wipe - which they'd already established as the only course of action they were capable of doing to remove the infection - that took of care of the threat.
When Sharon read the code on the priontout, I thought for a moment it was going to trigger something in her, take her over, the Langford visual hack, if you know what I mean.
So despite events in "Water" and "Litmus," ordnance security remains a less than high priority chez Galactica. Loads of weapons in the shooting range (granted looked to be in cages), yet more dinky little boxes of explosive rounds lying around, yet no-one in attendance at the range. This despite pilots trying to shoot themselves, maintenance workers blowing prisoners away, and so forth. I guess those are trade-offs for being a warship during a war. . .
Also, the explosive rounds slot into the front of those little grenade-launchers on the pistols. I'd have expected them to go in from the rear of the launcher, like an M203. Must have some sort of solid propellant to avoid having to remove a 'shoe' of some kind that launches the round (like sabot tank rounds). And how do you make an explosive round fire? Is it just that if you fire an ordinary pistol round and the launcher contains a mini-grenade, it fires too?
I noticed that Starbuck seemed to fiddle with the side of her pistol after loading the explosive round and before firing it. Maybe there's a switch which changes what barrel the trigger activates?
posted
1. The computer believed the room to be overpressurized, and indeed we see that air pressure was greater in the corridor after the erroneous depressurization of the room. What's impressive, though, is that given the readout on the gauges it's clear that the system managed to selectively remove the oxygen alone, resulting in the overall pressure loss.
Still, though, that wasn't great on a scientific level. People would notice a pressure loss like that, be it from a feeling in the jaw-ear region to someone with a bad knee (a la Starbuck) feeling a change in the joints. They should've simply had the computer remove the oxygen and replace it with nitrogen or something.
2. Someone said earlier that the Cylon virus did not breach the final firewall when Gaeta had set up that network that time. That's not actually correct. Freeze frame when Gaeta's reaching under the desk to unplug the network . . . the final firewall had gone red. That split-second of breach paid off in the next episode and this one as well.
3. My impression was always that the explosive rounds were loaded, chambered, and fired just like normal ones. If so, then the lower barrel is like a mini-grenade-launcher, one which could also fire a normal round in an emergency.
Whether Lee loaded an explosive round or a full-fledged mini-grenade is another matter. Whatever was used to blast the window seemed quite a bit more powerful than the usual explosive round, though that could have related to pressure differential.
-------------------- . . . ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.
quote:Originally posted by Balaam Xumucane: (Tyrol's) an engineer, and it's an engineer's solution.
NO NO NO!!!
Okay, Tyrol's no more an engineer than I am a mechanic. Believe me, you do not want me anywhere near a rivet gun. I've got the proof of that sitting next to me (a nastily banged-up sheet metal project). Simply put, Tyrol's a wrench monkey, nothing more.
posted
Tyrol's job description might be "wrench monkey", but the boy's obviously got qualifications beyond handling a wrench. I wonder how much education he has -- I've read about senior enlisted men in the Navy having advanced degrees in subjects such as nuclear engineering, and it wouldn't surprise me if Tyrol did in fact have operational knowledge of the types of craft whose servicing he was expected to keep up on. After all, Tyrol's job is more along the lines of managing his deckcrew to keep the ship's up and running - under normal circumstances, he probably wouldn't be getting his hands dirty as much as he is with limited resources.
posted
I would say it's more hands-on experience than anything. A lot of the mechanics I work with are very knowledgeable, and a smart engineer knows when to ask them for advice. However, they wouldn't know where to start if asked to analyze the complex loads behind a design to see if it's good (and optimal) or not. Tyrol also had his work simplified by using off-the-shelf parts.
In my mind, I'm equating it more to a car mechanic building a hot rod in his garage than an engineer designing a new car. Sure, both will run, but unless you've got a really sharp mind behind the design, the hot rod's going to be in the shop for repairs a lot more often.
posted
"When Sharon read the code on the priontout, I thought for a moment it was going to trigger something in her, take her over, the Langford visual hack, if you know what I mean."
I wondered the same thing.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Nevermind on my #3 above . . . I just went back and checked "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Pt. I" and the ep where Galactica was boarded and noticed that the lower barrel makes way more of a mess, be it in the form of Helo's shoulder-blasting shot or elsewhere.
That's what I get for not paying attention. (Says the guy who noticed the last firewall breach. )
-------------------- . . . ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.
posted
I think in most sci-fi shows engineer == maintenance technician/wrench monkey. Because in the future all mechanically inclined individuals will also be gifted designers and engineers (and vice-versa). (*cough*, not to mention Tom Paris, *cough*) But you're right. I should have said "mechanic." The Delta Fly--excuse me, Laura, is a hotrod.
Guardian 2K: My point was that the show is being inconsistent in its application of networks and viruses. A major plot point established in the 4-hour Miniseries series was that Galactica's antiquated, non-networked, all manual systems (that made Lee Adama land hands-on) are precisely what saved it from the fate of the rest of the fleet. And in subsequent attacks, one might assume the Cylons have continued to try using this weapon to no effect. So in one episode for a little over ten minutes Galactica sets up an ad-hoc network which is magically almost instantly infiltrated (somehow). And in this episode we have that same virus propogating itself across a bunch of intertied computer systems (which I would term a network) thereby placing the ship in dire jeopardy. So, yeah. Networks.
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
I don't think explosive rounds were ever mentioned prior to the Cylon incursion. Which was quite a dark episode (illumination-wise) so I didn't notice if you saw the explosive rounds being loaded into Team Apollo's pistols. But it was plain from the size that they weren't intended for the magazines of semi-auto pistols - too long.
Although I myself have referred to the under-barrel as a grenade launcher, it's probably something we need to stop doing as they're not mini-(micro-?)grenades that are being fired. I don't know what the definition of a grenade is, but I'd imagine it's something that gets lobbed, whereas these are definitely powered projectiles (and we've seen a proper grenade-launcher anyway, on Kobol). Something akin to a GyroJet rocket pistol round, with a solid propellant accelerant stage.
(also - tracer rounds, in space? No air to ignite phosporus. . .)
posted
When Gaeta talked about connecting various computers together, did he mention environmental controls at all? Because just about every glitch that's taken place in the various episodes was environmental in nature - Galactica didn't start veering wildly off course, inadvertently making FTL jumps or sprouting cannon and taking postshots at the fleet.
So there has to be something about the environmental systems that make them susceptible. I think of all the ship-wide computer networks that would be necessary, a full control of life support (lights, gravity, opening & closing sections, air etc) would be most important.
Because of the threat of virus takeover, keeping access to navigational and fire-control computers to C&C only makes sense. Think of all the times in Star Trek that a ship got taken over from Auxiliary Control (I'm sure Tim will be able to tell us EXACTLY how many). Mind you, several times they had to go off crawling through Jeffries Tubes just to access environmental controls. . .
So, when the Cylon boarding party came onboard, what did they try to do? Seize the life support controls. It stands to reason that a virus attack would do the same thing. Trying to gain engine control or weapons control would be too easy to stop; better to take over something that affects the whole ship and uits occupants.
Notes:
1. Yes, I know we saw the ship lose attitude control after the initial virus attack. 2. Yes, I know that another attack party tried to reach engineering or the magazines or something. Why put all your eggs in one basket?
posted
1. Valley of Darkness and Flight of the Phoenix both imply/state the malfunctions are the result of the results of the virus implantated during the computer networking. Why couldn't the Cylon boarding party also have implanted viruses?
2. Maybe the explosive rounds are Gyrojets instead of mini-grenades:
posted
I still have no problem with they way their computers are depicted. Despite some people's objections, I think they're a lot more like ships currently in use in that regard.
And now for something completely different. When the Vipers were gathering in front of the Cylon formation, I counted about 4 or 6 Mk VII Vipers. I thought that Apollo's was the only surviving Mk VII? Or am I mistaken?
posted
As early as the end of the miniseries, we see more than a couple VIIs landing beforet he jump. Plus, there's nothing to say they couldn't have salvaged or repaired others along the way, or picked up stragglers. With the Pegasus arc inevitable, they're doubtless going to have more fighters on hand later - and I'm willing to bet that they don't have any Mk IIs.
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