http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-05/man-machine
...
Do...
Do I need to make a comment?
Really?
I mean...
Just...read it.
...
Do...
Do I need to make a comment?
Really?
I mean...
Just...read it.
Real Life Mechwarrior
- Thread starter Zoombie
- Start date
*yawn*
The thing is severely underpowered and outside of being a nifty piece of kinematic sculpture a mech warrior it isn't.
Look up the Sarcos XOS system, or the Lockheed Martin HULC prototypes for something a bit more realistic and functional.
The thing is severely underpowered and outside of being a nifty piece of kinematic sculpture a mech warrior it isn't.
Look up the Sarcos XOS system, or the Lockheed Martin HULC prototypes for something a bit more realistic and functional.
Tall bipedal designs for any robot are generally considered bad. There's a reason we use tanks instead.
The difference being is this is something a guy cobbled together in his backyard, without millions of dollars.
Also, don't you know, plucky backyard inventor is always better than soulless corporate creations. Movies have told me this, and THEY DO NOT LIE.
Also, don't you know, plucky backyard inventor is always better than soulless corporate creations. Movies have told me this, and THEY DO NOT LIE.
*Now that is the one main thing wrong with Verhoeven's adaptation of ST. If he'd made a high school drama WITH giant powered exoskeletons, that would have been THE best movie ever.
The one main thing wrong with Verhoeven's adaptation was that all he used was the book's title. The movie bore no resemblance whatsoever to the book. If Heinlein had been alive, he would have become a real-life Howard Roark.
For some reason the thought of a 90 year old Heinlein at his crotchety best bursting onto Verhoeven's set and breaking shit just fills me with glee.
LOL, me too, Albedo. It would have been a sight to see, no doubt. I'm surprised it didn't bring him back from the grave. Even better would have been a Zombie Heinlein breaking shit on the set.
I'd pay to see that. Which other sf writers can we throw into the mix? How about Eric Blair?
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You'd think so, wouldn't you?
Tragically, that turns out not to be the case. Stuart Gordon made a movie from a Joe Haldeman script that more or less matched that description. It was lucky not to end up on MST3K.
No, the best thing about Verhoven's adaptation was that it was the most subversive movie made in decades. It took the right wing's militaristic utopia and turned it into a brick stupid high school teen drama fest wherein most everyone dies due to amazingly stupid command decisions.
In other words, it was a gigantic fuck you to Heinline, which I fully commend him for because no matter how many times you use flimsy excuses, Starship Troopers was still a FASCIST utopia novel.
Really? I saw it as about patriotism, love of country, and the assumption of responsibility for society. And this from a 60s hippy who got his ass whupped over Vietnam more than once. Where did the fascism come in? Militaristic, certainly. But fascist?
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Its because the only way one can change the government is by joining the government and the military is the most hyped up part of the book.
The best way...to change the government...is to be trained BY THE GOVERNMENT to become a good citizen.
Don, I can't believe i need to point this out to you! YOU ARE THE ANARCHIST HERE!
The best way...to change the government...is to be trained BY THE GOVERNMENT to become a good citizen.
Don, I can't believe i need to point this out to you! YOU ARE THE ANARCHIST HERE!
Restricting the vote to an approved group isn't really the definition of fascist, Zoombie. As a matter of fact, that's been the historical practice. Even today, we restrict the vote to a certain age, and deny it to felons.
ST was about much more than the vote, but more about the relationship of authority and responsibility. He posited one way to tie those two issues in lockstep in ST, and other ways in any number of his other works.
Heinlein was not particularly militaristic, as The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, among others, illustrates. Heinlein was adamantly opposed to conscription, as a matter of fact.
So, again, where's the fascism in the work? Verhoven claimed it was full of it, true... but he also admitted he never finished reading the book, so his opinion doesn't count for much.
Yes, I guess you could call me an anarchist... pattered after Rational Anarchists, as described by another Heinlein character, Professor Bernardo de la Paz in TMIAHM.
ST was about much more than the vote, but more about the relationship of authority and responsibility. He posited one way to tie those two issues in lockstep in ST, and other ways in any number of his other works.
Heinlein was not particularly militaristic, as The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, among others, illustrates. Heinlein was adamantly opposed to conscription, as a matter of fact.
Guest of Honor Speech at the 29th World Science Fiction Convention, Seattle, Washington (1961)
So, again, where's the fascism in the work? Verhoven claimed it was full of it, true... but he also admitted he never finished reading the book, so his opinion doesn't count for much.
Yes, I guess you could call me an anarchist... pattered after Rational Anarchists, as described by another Heinlein character, Professor Bernardo de la Paz in TMIAHM.