computer affair

noticed a couple things-

1) how in the world can anyone smoke and drink around electronics
like these folks do? they lean up on a monitor and put a drink on
it? do they know what smoke does to computers?

2) when the alien screamed at the end- i think i could see fillings
in his teeth. guess aliens get cavities, too.


3) wouldnt they be shooting each each other in the woods with
something more advanced (lazers?) then what looks and sound like
bullets? bullets from aliens?

Actually, a "couple" of things would be 2. : )

1) Uh, what DOES smoke do to computers? I probably don't want to know, right?

2) Well, if their organs keep crapping out, why would their teeth be any better? : )

3) Maybe they spent all their R & D funds on faster than light travel, leaving nothing for portable weapon R & D?

4) Their tailor sucks too.

I think if these guys are the SMARTEST aliens we ever have a conflict with, we'll do OK!

Jeff

Brinke <[hidden email]> wrote:



noticed a couple things-

1) how in the world can anyone smoke and drink around electronics
like these folks do? they lean up on a monitor and put a drink on
it? do they know what smoke does to computers?

2) when the alien screamed at the end- i think i could see fillings
in his teeth. guess aliens get cavities, too.


3) wouldnt they be shooting each each other in the woods with
something more advanced (lazers?) then what looks and sound like
bullets? bullets from aliens?









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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In [hidden email], "Brinke" <brinkeguthrie@y...> wrote:
>
>
> noticed a couple things-
>
> 1) how in the world can anyone smoke and drink around electronics
> like these folks do? they lean up on a monitor and put a drink on
> it? do they know what smoke does to computers?

And how many people smoked around electronics in the 60's and, in
1980. I was doing student radio in the late 80's and it was only in
1988 that a total smoking and drinking ban was instituted in the
station.
>
> 2) when the alien screamed at the end- i think i could see
fillings
> in his teeth. guess aliens get cavities, too.

Or maybe they stole the teeth of a captured human.
>
>
> 3) wouldnt they be shooting each each other in the woods with
> something more advanced (lazers?) then what looks and sound like
> bullets? bullets from aliens?

But why not bullets? Killing someone with a projectile weapon is
just as efficient. Maybe the aliens don't consider upgrading to
personal laser weapons to be worth it.

Nick

>
> 1) how in the world can anyone smoke and drink around electronics
> like these folks do? they lean up on a monitor and put a drink on
> it? do they know what smoke does to computers?

Not to mention what it does to people in a closed environment where air is
recirculated, like in a submarine. I sure hope they had much better
air-scrubbing technology back in the 1980s than we do today.
>
> 3) wouldnt they be shooting each each other in the woods with
> something more advanced (lazers?) then what looks and sound like
> bullets? bullets from aliens?
>
That's one of the things that struck me when I first saw the series in the
1970s. Analog weapons in a digital age.

On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 05:40:12 -0000
"Brinke" <[hidden email]> wrote:

>
> noticed a couple things-
>
> 1) how in the world can anyone smoke and drink around electronics
> like these folks do? they lean up on a monitor and put a drink on
> it? do they know what smoke does to computers?

Yes, it makes them go yellow and smell like ashtrays! :D

I've known quite a lot of people who smoked around
IT hardware in my time - smoking related illnesses are rare
among computers. Drinks are another story though, many
a box has met its end at the hands of a cup of coffee.

> 3) wouldnt they be shooting each each other in the woods with
> something more advanced (lazers?) then what looks and sound
> like bullets? bullets from aliens?

I actually really like the fact that the Aliens use kinetic
energy weapons, like us - so often in sci-fi, the
extra-terrestrials have had 'ray guns' that it became a bit of
a cliche long ago. The UFOs are equipped with them of course,
but we can assume that the technology is a bit too unwieldy
to be used in a hand-held weapon.

It helps also to reinforce the impression that the Aliens aren't
that much more technologically advanced than the humans in
the series, and to make the notion of defending ourselves
against them a bit more realistic.

James

Two more points. 1. The cost of ray gun blasts. 2. A friend of mine used to repair computers. One day he got a call from a woman who said her coffee cup holder refused to come out of the computer. She was using her CD rom holder as a coffee cup holder. LOL. true story.

James Gibbon <[hidden email]> wrote:
On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 05:40:12 -0000
"Brinke"
wrote:

>
> noticed a couple things-
>
> 1) how in the world can anyone smoke and drink around electronics
> like these folks do? they lean up on a monitor and put a drink on
> it? do they know what smoke does to computers?

Yes, it makes them go yellow and smell like ashtrays! :D

I've known quite a lot of people who smoked around
IT hardware in my time - smoking related illnesses are rare
among computers. Drinks are another story though, many
a box has met its end at the hands of a cup of coffee.

> 3) wouldnt they be shooting each each other in the woods with
> something more advanced (lazers?) then what looks and sound
> like bullets? bullets from aliens?

I actually really like the fact that the Aliens use kinetic
energy weapons, like us - so often in sci-fi, the
extra-terrestrials have had 'ray guns' that it became a bit of
a cliche long ago. The UFOs are equipped with them of course,
but we can assume that the technology is a bit too unwieldy
to be used in a hand-held weapon.

It helps also to reinforce the impression that the Aliens aren't
that much more technologically advanced than the humans in
the series, and to make the notion of defending ourselves
against them a bit more realistic.

James



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Thinking back on the Timelash episode where Sylvia Anderson and Wanda Vetham
were talking about the "beautiful people" on the sets of UFO...they sort of
implied that Alec was dropped because he wasn't "beautiful" enough.
Something about letters they received, if I recall (I'll have to watch it
again to make sure that's what they said for certain). Any thoughts on
that? Was there a "letter writing campaign" or something that made them
get rid of the Alec character? And...was it ever explained in any of the
episodes where he went? (I've seen all the episodes and I can't recall
anything of the kind...he's just not there and I thought it strange as he's
supposed to be Straker's best friend.)

Samantha
------------------------------------------------
The Queen's Tailor
http://www.geocities.com/starlamedra1/queenstailor.html

Hello Samantha,
I never really gave it a thought. I just listened to the commentary to
Timelash too, but I don't remember the exact way Sylvia and Wanda worded it
either. I'll have to watch that episode later today. Its a good point your
making...something new to ponder. :0)...Amy


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Um...not to mention the actors' yellow teeth.



That's true...makes it seem like we aren't "outgunned" in the war against
them. But, of course, it also doesn't explain things that we've heard time
and again...like finding mutilated animals in the woods and on ranches with
their guts removed with lazer-like devices before we here on earth started
conceiving of the idea. ;-)

Samantha
------------------------------------------------
The Queen's Tailor
http://www.geocities.com/starlamedra1/queenstailor.html


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> Thinking back on the Timelash episode where Sylvia Anderson and Wanda Vetham
> were talking about the "beautiful people" on the sets of UFO...they sort of
> implied that Alec was dropped because he wasn't "beautiful" enough.

Well, the answer to this question seems to depend on who you ask. If
you ask George Sewell, the reason was that they had stopped filming
for 6 months after the episode SUB-SMASH, so he went and got another
acting job. When the filming resumed, they wanted him back, but he
was busy. You'll notice that a lot of characters dissappear at about
the same time -- Lt. Ellis, Lt. Ford, Lt. Harrington, Capt. Waterman,
etc.

This is something you'll find out if you start reading/listening to
interviews with all the UFO actors/producers -- they tell stories
which are inconsistent with other people's stories.

Marc

The way they put it, as I recall, was that Americans objected to Freeman's
appearance, thinking he wasn't pretty enough. I assumed they meant possible
American distributors of the show, since wouldn't ALL of the episodes have
already been shot before it even STARTED running in the USA? They said his
appearance wasn't a problem to Brits.

Original letter on this said he disappeared without an explanation. But isnt
that the case with most of the characters? They come and go without
explanation as to how they got there, with the exception of Foster's origins
episode.

I mean, Gabrielle Drake just disappeared without explanation as well. Sigh.

And Col. Lake just sort of appeared without explanation too.

And some characters change "motivations," if that's the right word here. In
"Court Martial" Dr. Jackson suddenly is an enemy of Straker, Freeman and
Foster. They express their intense dislike for him right at the start of the
episode. Where'd that come from? And the dislike seems to have just as
quickly faded away.

And someone asked me the other day what's the deal between Henderson and
Straker? They seem like friends at the start.



----- Original Message -----
From: <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2005 9:42 AM
Subject: Re: [SHADO] Another topic: Alec's "disappearance"

I'd like to know why Henderson's eyebrows curled up like they did.
Not a great look.




--- In [hidden email], "D Persica" <dennispersica@b...> wrote:
> The way they put it, as I recall, was that Americans objected to
Freeman's
> appearance,

Because they needed to be trimmed. I'm guessing they were left that way because it made him seem more menacing, perhaps?

Jeff

Brinke <[hidden email]> wrote:


I'd like to know why Henderson's eyebrows curled up like they did.
Not a great look.




--- In [hidden email], "D Persica" wrote:
> The way they put it, as I recall, was that Americans objected to
Freeman's
> appearance,






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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Smoke would have been a much bigger problem with the mag tape drives used in the computer systems back then. Today most of the critical components are sealed from any contanimats. Many people smoke near PC's nowdays. I still to this day see people puting coffee cups on top of equipment cabinets. I can only guess that in the show, they were careful not to spill it drawing the wrath of the commander. *grin* Scrubbers used in submarines work quite well and it's pluasable that HQ was outfitted with them as smoking was much more prevelent than it is today.

The only reason I can see that the aliens did not have handheld lasers, is that a cutting laser would require large amounts of power to operate. Sometimes a low tech solution works best. I'm sure it saved on the special effects budget too.