TheImpressiveX

joined 1 month ago
 

Imagine the world as we know it is a work of speculative fiction: you're reading a book about a world that has harnessed the power of electricity to achieve all kinds of incredible things. Electric power's not just magic, though, right? This is hard sci-fi, there are technical limitations on how this fantastical technology works. There are ways to generate electricity enough for everyone to use but to actually use it they need the electricity to travel long distances from its source to their location and the route is required to be more or less contiguous.

Now electricity, according to this wild sci-fi premise, is a force that kind of wants to travel; it is possible for it to move, then it will. And I said "more or less contiguous" up there because it can actually cross small gaps as long as the rest of the route remains valid. And one thing it is possible for it to move through is a human body, which can be nightmarishly harmful to the human it travels through. Indeed, there is a history of intentionally placing humans into that route in order to execute them. And living creatures aren't the only thing it can harm: electricity traveling through a flammable medium can start fires and, if misdirected in some way, can even destroy the very technology it's being harnessed to power.

Even setting aside the destruction it can cause should it end up traveling where they don't want it to travel, there is also the fact that if it fails to travel along the desired route then electrical technology that people have built their lives around will simply stop functioning. There are ways to generate one's own limited supply of electricity as a stopgap until the main course is reestablished but most people in the setting don't have that and it's a temporary measure even if they do. And I don't just mean stuff like their business failing to function, I mean that even the basic day to day operations of their lives will fail. They have stores of food kept safely cold by electrical technology that will spoil if the electricity stops, they have kitchens that run on electricity to cook that food even if the ingredients are still good, and most of them never learned how to do these kinds of basic things the old fashioned way and if they want to learn how then their primary source for information is itself a technology that requires electricity to function.

So you're talking to a friend about this book you've been reading about this electrical world. And your friend asks you about these "routes" you told them the electricity travels along:

"How do they move this super dangerous yet super integral substance across such long distances that even people in the middle of nowhere have access to it?"

"For the millionth time, it's not a substance."

"Whatever it is, how do they get it from A to B?"

"Well... mostly they the put wires that conduct it on top of thirty foot tall wooden posts."

"Wouldn't those just fall down whenever there's bad weather?"

"Yeah, 'power outages' as they call them are not entirely infrequent."

"So these wooden posts that if they fall over could start fires or kill bystanders or, like, melt stuff. They keep all that away from where people are at least?"

"Well, okay, I was simplifying. There's these bigger and sturdier metal constructions for carrying wire the longest distances and they build those in the middle of nowhere. These wooden posts that fall down easily are mostly situated around where people are, like roadsides. They were first on my mind because they're more what's present where the story takes place."

"Didn't you say earlier they've all got these individually operated vehicles on the roads that are measured in the strength of dozens of horses, thousands of pounds of metal that move faster than jungle cats? Wouldn't they just hit the poles by accident and, like, demolish them?"

"Yeah that happens sometimes."

"...I guess I'm being uncharitable. If I were in this scenario I'd probably be more excited and not thinking as clearly as I do from this distance. It makes sense that such a radical new technology would have some unforeseen negative consequences."

"Actually it's not new. Electrical power's been commonplace for something like a century as of when the story takes place. The characters don't remember a world without it."

"And they're still just... putting it on sticks?"

 

It is now Monday, July 7, 9:00PM Pacific Time, which means the social media embargo for Superman has officially been lifted. The critic review embargo will be lifted tomorrow, Tuesday, July 8 at 12:00PM Pacific Time. A lot of people on various social media platforms and professional film review websites will be sharing their opinions on the film, and with that comes the possibility of spoilers.

It is advised that you stay away from DC-related Internet spaces until you have a chance to see the movie, to avoid getting spoiled.

As for me, I will be limiting my activity on this community until July 11, which is when I'll be seeing the film. Until then...look up.

 

https://www.zillow.com/house/baxterbuilding/

This building looks fantastic!

[–] TheImpressiveX@lemmy.today 3 points 1 month ago

!dadjokes@lemmy.world

[–] TheImpressiveX@lemmy.today 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

@Sunshine@lemmy.ca

[–] TheImpressiveX@lemmy.today 2 points 1 month ago

Shock-induced cardiac arrest?

[–] TheImpressiveX@lemmy.today 4 points 1 month ago

There was one I can think of.

It's called the DragonBox Pyra, a handheld computer that runs Debian, and has a keyboard and touchpad. It kinda looks like a DS. It's apparently fully open-source from the top down.

But, the thing is, it's been in development since 2015. It's still not ready for consumers. They started shipping their first batches in 2020, and by then the technology was already outdated. When it's finally released (if it ever does release), it won't be up to modern standards at all. If you want something like that, at this point you're better off getting a GPD Win and installing your distro of choice on that.

It's a shame, really. It looked like it could have been so much more...

[–] TheImpressiveX@lemmy.today 3 points 1 month ago

They're all references to previous episodes.

[–] TheImpressiveX@lemmy.today 7 points 1 month ago
  • X-Men '97. It's one of the best animated superhero projects to come out in years. The animation and writing are outstanding. The characters are compelling. I only watched the first two episodes and I have no desire to ever rewatch the series.
  • My Adventures With Superman. Another excellent animated superhero TV series. I loved the changes and updates to introduce Clark and the others into the 2020s. This version of Lois Lane is especially great. I watched the first four episodes and have no plans to ever watch it again.
  • Arcane. I won't deny the animation is unlike anything that's come out this decade, and from what I've heard, the story/wtiting is an absolute slam dunk. But I couldn't make it through the first episode, I thought it was too depressing. It's a greatly crafted series with lots of high production values, but it's just not my thing.
[–] TheImpressiveX@lemmy.today 133 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] TheImpressiveX@lemmy.today 7 points 1 month ago

!freeflight@lemmy.zip

[–] TheImpressiveX@lemmy.today 3 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I find that I'm not really able to customize the interface as much. I'm trying to make it look similar to Jerboa's compact interface, which I'm used to.

Who knows, maybe I'll adjust to it sooner or later.

[–] TheImpressiveX@lemmy.today 2 points 1 month ago (5 children)

For now I'm just visiting piefed.social through my web browser, since Interstellar doesn't have all the features I want.

view more: ‹ prev next ›