Escapist Podcast - Science and Tech: 007: Warp Drives, Google Glass, SteamBoy

[The Escapist Staff]

007: Warp Drives, Google Glass, SteamBoy

In this episode of The Escapist's Science and Tech podcast, host CJ Miozzi and Escapist news writers talk about recent headlines in the world of science and technology: NASA's models of a warp-capable starship, Google Glass being banned from the Alamo Draft House, the newly unveiled handheld SteamBoy, and more.

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[truckspond]

Warps you across space when the plot demands it

That was before the JJ Abrams version - It was called Transwarp. http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Transwarp

 

[Rhykker]

Warps you across space when the plot demands it

That was before the JJ Abrams version - It was called Transwarp. http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Transwarp

Oh yeah, I remember that Voyager episode! They cut out about 15 years from their journey home using a borg transwarp conduit, right?

 

[truckspond]

Warps you across space when the plot demands it

That was before the JJ Abrams version - It was called Transwarp. http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Transwarp

Oh yeah, I remember that Voyager episode! They cut out about 15 years from their journey home using a borg transwarp conduit, right?

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking of. Then once they ran out of ideas for the story they just shouted "TRANSWARP CONDUIT" and the ship was back in our solar system

 

[KingDragonlord]

Warps you across space when the plot demands it

That was before the JJ Abrams version - It was called Transwarp. http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Transwarp

Oh yeah, I remember that Voyager episode! They cut out about 15 years from their journey home using a borg transwarp conduit, right?

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking of. Then once they ran out of ideas for the story they just shouted "TRANSWARP CONDUIT" and the ship was back in our solar system

In all fairness, I think we all knew from day one that Voyager would travel for an arbitrary length of time equal to the number of seasons they could get aired and then they'd be plot deviced back home. I just assumed that when I was watching the first episode.

On to Google Glasses. I'm one of these camera haters and I am well aware this was a problem before now thanks to smartphones, cameras on cell phones and even digital cameras. Its just that with each iteration its been that much easier for that many more people to take pictures or even video. Yes you could buy specialized equipment but then your efforts would have to be more conscious and planned. But right now, you can just whip your smartphone out of your pocket and start filming whenever the mood strikes.

Google Glasses take it one step further. At least with smartphones, its pretty obvious that someone is filming you if you can see them. They're holding their phone with the camera pointed directly at you in a way that people don't normally hold their phones when they're browsing or texting. With Google Glasses, you're probably wearing your glasses whether you're actually using them or not, whether you're filming or using other apps. And you don't even have to pull your device out of your pocket. You just have to hit record to start filming what you're already looking at. Thats the problem.

Speaking for me personally, while I haven't made it a firm rule to avoid the outdoors, I already have shut in tendencies as more and more people do these days with all the gaming and media and online shopping you can get in the home. And knowing that, if I trip in public, someone may post a mean-spirited "fatty falls over" video on their Twitter gives me that much more reason to not leave the house. I'm not saying that its an absolute, but its one more thing that discourages me any time I think about leaving the house.

 

[Rhykker]

Warps you across space when the plot demands it

That was before the JJ Abrams version - It was called Transwarp. http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Transwarp

Oh yeah, I remember that Voyager episode! They cut out about 15 years from their journey home using a borg transwarp conduit, right?

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking of. Then once they ran out of ideas for the story they just shouted "TRANSWARP CONDUIT" and the ship was back in our solar system

In all fairness, I think we all knew from day one that Voyager would travel for an arbitrary length of time equal to the number of seasons they could get aired and then they'd be plot deviced back home. I just assumed that when I was watching the first episode.

On to Google Glasses. I'm one of these camera haters and I am well aware this was a problem before now thanks to smartphones, cameras on cell phones and even digital cameras. Its just that with each iteration its been that much easier for that many more people to take pictures or even video. Yes you could buy specialized equipment but then your efforts would have to be more conscious and planned. But right now, you can just whip your smartphone out of your pocket and start filming whenever the mood strikes.

Google Glasses take it one step further. At least with smartphones, its pretty obvious that someone is filming you if you can see them. They're holding their phone with the camera pointed directly at you in a way that people don't normally hold their phones when they're browsing or texting. With Google Glasses, you're probably wearing your glasses whether you're actually using them or not, whether you're filming or using other apps. And you don't even have to pull your device out of your pocket. You just have to hit record to start filming what you're already looking at. Thats the problem.

Speaking for me personally, while I haven't made it a firm rule to avoid the outdoors, I already have shut in tendencies as more and more people do these days with all the gaming and media and online shopping you can get in the home. And knowing that, if I trip in public, someone may post a mean-spirited "fatty falls over" video on their Twitter gives me that much more reason to not leave the house. I'm not saying that its an absolute, but its one more thing that discourages me any time I think about leaving the house.

All great points!

I wonder, though, how much legal protection we have. As far as I'm aware, it is unlawful to record, either visually or audibly, another individual without their consent (security cameras are an exception, and perhaps recording crimes? Or maybe the law is that you cannot publicly post the recording... I know that, as a journalist, there are states and countries in which you must have an interview subject give their verbal consent on a recording in order for it to be legal). If a video of me, with my face in full view, appears on someone's YouTube, do I have the legal right to sue or otherwise issue a takedown notice?

 

[KingDragonlord]

Some of that stuff varies by state. I remember during the Clinton scandal there was a lot of talk about whether Linda Tripp's taped conversation with Lewinsky was legal based on the states involved (For the record, Tripp had been involved in a previous Clinton scandal and knew from how she was treated that she had to tape this conversation to cover her tail).

But it doesn't matter. Once somebody posts a video of you, the damage is done. Even if you can prosecute the person who did it, any efforts to take it down will backfire, possibly even running you afoul of the Anonymous types. And thats assuming you can even tell who posted it. Platforms generally do what they can to position themselves under the "safe harbor" rule.

I do like Marla's idea about using NFC to disable cameras. Wouldn't help in my going out in public scenario but at least I could have some protection at home.

 

[Strazdas]

Hi, Babylon 5 nerd here (and yes its the pinnacle of Sci-fi). I see you couldnt figure out how they traveled. they used Hyperspace, an alternative universe in which them traveling short distances would travel long distances in the real universe. in oder not to get lost in that hyperspace they had anchor gates for navigation (because otherwise their navigation equipment was useless, theres even a plot enemy hiding behind that). Some races, particullar 2 of them, can generate their own entrances, others have to rely on gates. and even then it takes weeks to months to travel even in hyperspace, however its implied that they travel hundreds of lightyears. A third spinoff movie deal with previuos main character retiring after contrived plot of finding babylon 5 station in hyperspace, supposedly from the future, cementing the idea that hyperspace is very unstable to the point of beinding laws of physics and reality.

Tl;dr babylon 5 used magic parallel universe.


As far as Google Glass idea of disabling per location. This means that there needs to be some form of checking mechanism for google smartphones t check where they are and then disable something. This has two major problems:
1. most people walk with thier wifi/GPS off and thus their smartphones dont know the location they are in. And signal tower based triangulation is costly and wont be used for this or people will disable it.
2. You are assuming google gets to control your phone. No way its going to work. everyone that wants to circumwent it will do it easily. Just like everyone circumwents DRM and why DRM doesnt work. If the device is in your hands, you can crack it, legally.

What microsoft did was ILLEGAL. Google used to scan your emails automatically with a bot as an antispam measure. They got sued and LOST because it was privacy infringement. What microsoft did was worse.