[Techtalk] OT: sci-fi computer quotes

[hobbit at aloss.ukuu.org.uk]

Follow-ups might be better on grrltalk :)

On Mon, Aug 12, 2002 at 05:23:01PM -0400 or thereabouts, caitlynmaire at earthlink.net wrote:
> > "I steal things.  Compulsive, I'm afraid.  I've had my head adjusted
> > by some of the best in the business.  But it just won't stay
> > adjusted."
> > 		-- Vila Restal		(Blake's 7: The Way Back [A1])
> 
> Great quote.  Blake's 7 is about to come out on DVD in the UK.  For

It is? Whee. 

> those of us with a DVD player that isn't region encoded it's worth
> importing.  That and Sapphire and Steel :)

Blakes 7 is BBC sci-fi at its best. I was going to write reams on
this, but then I remembered this is techtalk :) 

So I deleted it all and leave you with this quote, involving a
computer which I am convinced runs UNIX (the Y238 problem must
have been solved) because in the best tradition of UNIX, its
answers are unfailingly accurate, but unhelpful at best or 
misleading at worst. 

   Avon: "You know ORAC's main drawback?"
   Dayna: "He's too useful to destroy?"
   Avon: "Irritating, isn't it?"

Some years after Blakes 7, the BBC also produced "Star Cops",
by which time, it was possible to have a PDA-sized computer 
with a brain the size of Orac's. I'll never forget that series
either, although re-watching it now I rather cringe at one
or two of the episodes.

> "Good grief man!  It's as simple as Einstein's Special Theory of
> Relativity!"
> -Doctor Who (as played by Jon Pertwee in "The Daemons")

I have this one on video. Love it :) 

I remember reading that one woman wrote to complain about that
storyline, because she'd visited the village used for location
work and was most annoyed that the church had been blown up
for a measly old television programme. Apparently the model-
maker was successful beyond his wildest dreams there...

Telsa