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xkcd presents "What If?"
 
#26
DHBirr Wrote:
Quote:One of these days, I'm going to write my short story about the Rainmaker, a weather controlling superhero who spends all his time in the American Midwest, slowly and carefully keeping the planet's weather from going off the rails because of the other weather manipulators treating it like it's their personal toy.
Eddings did something like that in The Malloreon, when Belgarath tore a strip off Garion regarding all the time and effort he and Beldin had needed to put into fixing the worldwide weather patterns after Garion conjured up a localized thunderstorm to stop a single battle -- it wasn't even a whole war, just a stupid knightly skirmish between Arends (of course, since it was between Arends, it might've turned into a war after all). 
Six months it took two of the world's most powerful sorcerers to fix it all:  "Your one tiny little storm in the right place at the right time came very close to altering the weather for the next several eons -- all over the world -- you blockhead!  ... Do you know what the term ice age means?"
I remember that particular scene from the Malloreon very well...Of course after this what if xkcd strip I have this mental image of just one of the many ways Garion could have screwed up...
--Werehawk--
My mom's brief take on upcoming Guatemalan Elections "In last throes of preelection activities. Much loudspeaker vote pleading."
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#27
What if we tried more power?
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
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#28
Jorlem Wrote:What if we tried more power?
I was right, This is _totally_ theoretical question Mythbusters.
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#29
I would have gone with "Obviously, they’re not legal for consumer purchase in the US. Just kidding! You can pick one up for $300.", myself...

Oh, and Space:1999, anyone?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#30
Believe it or not, you’ve been lied to all your life
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#31
Firvulag Wrote:Believe it or not, you’ve been lied to all your life
"I suggest we put it in Kendall Square—the MIT folks are probably used to dealing with this kind of thing."
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#32
...approach Iwo Jima as a radioactive whirlwind.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
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#33
Jorlem Wrote:...approach Iwo Jima as a radioactive whirlwind.
Stupid cat.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#34
Quote:How fast would you have to go in your car to run a red light claiming that it appeared green to you due to the Doppler Effect?

Casey and Andy had a strip where they tried that.

Claiming to have been driving at relativistic speeds in a 25 MPH zone is bad plan.

-Morgan.
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#35
robkelk Wrote:
Jorlem Wrote:...approach Iwo Jima as a radioactive whirlwind.
Stupid cat.
You gotta be kidding.  Unleashing radioactive whirlwinds?  That's a freakin' AWESOME cat.
"Then I, Aardvark Ratnik, shall rule the world!"
  
-----
Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.
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#36
Welcome to Microsoft Bob
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
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#37
Jorlem Wrote:Welcome to Microsoft Bob
"I like when things catch fire and explode, which means I do not have your best interests in mind."

Not that we hadn't already figured that out...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#38
robkelk Wrote:"I like when things catch fire and explode, which means I do not have your best interests in mind."
That is so delightfully quip-worthy.  I must use it elsewhere.
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#39
"This means that if they were migrating through the air over Rhode Island (biology is not my strong suit), they'd blot out the sun over barely half the state."
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Reply
 
#40
robkelk Wrote:"This means that if they were migrating through the air over Rhode Island (biology is not my strong suit), they'd blot out the sun over barely half the state."
Screw watts, I'm representing all my power needs in yodas from now on.
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#41
A single person with a BB gun can't do it. But what if we had an army?
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
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#42
Jorlem Wrote:A single person with a BB gun can't do it. But what if we had an army?
"This is unrealistic, but we can’t let them slow down the train with their bodies—that would be cheating."
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#43
The resulting question now being..

How many people does it take to stop a train?

Anyone got a hose?
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
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#44
Dartz Wrote:The resulting question now being..

How many people does it take to stop a train?
Just one -- to pull the emergency cord.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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#45
This week's update: http://what-if.xkcd.com/19/
----------------------------------------------------

"Anyone can be a winner if their definition of victory is flexible enough." - The DM of the Rings XXXV
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#46
Shepherd Wrote:This week's update: http://what-if.xkcd.com/19/
"(By the way—this means that given a street price of $20,000 per kilogram, a typical acre of Florida land produces an average revenue of three cents per year in falling cocaine bales)."
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#47
Shepherd Wrote:This week's update: http://what-if.xkcd.com/19/
More relevantly:
"The probability that every battleground state is exactly tied is roughly
equal to the probability that, when one of the Florida electors reaches
into the hat to draw a name, he or she is struck by a falling cocaine
bale, the hat is hurled away within the next few seconds by a tornado,
and the elector is obliterated minutes later by a meteorite impact."
I don't know if that sight would be worth the election, but it's still pretty awesome to think about.
---

The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI
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#48
Relevant? Why would I want to post relevant snippets when I can post fun ones instead?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#49
Fine, I can take a hint. Relevant:

"A little faster, and we might spot Higgs Bosons in the impact debris."
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Reply
 
#50
"And in the distant future, an alien astronomer on a world hundreds of light-years from Earth frowns at a beeping detector, and wonders what violent event would make a particle move so fast.".......... hehehe....
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
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