Here is my opinion on how to gamble using the Martingale betting system. My game of choice is roulette and on an American wheel you have 18 chances out of 38 to win on red, black, odd or even. That's about 47% of the time. The longer you play with the Martingale system, the higher your chance of having a long losing streak so the idea to keep it short and the shortest is to bet how much you want to win in your first bet.
Example: You want to win $100 so bet $100 on red, black, odd or even. If you win, take your $100 and walk away. If you lose, double it to $200. If you win, you have your $100 so walk away. If you lose double it to $400 and repeat until you win or lose it all. Have enough chips to cover 5 losses and 1 winning bet as a worse case scenario. If you lose 6 times in a row, you were very unlucky since this method has a 98% chance of winning.
These would be your bets for 5 losses in a row followed by a winning bet.
$100
$200 - 1st loss bet
$400 - 2nd loss bet
$800 - 3rd loss bet
$1,600 - 4th loss bet
$3,200 - 5th loss bet
$6,400 - 6th win - take your $100 and go home.
You need 2 times $6,400 minus $100 to cover this. That is $12,700! I call this betting high to win low. To maximize your chance of winning you need to find a table that has a high enough betting limit to allow you to bet $6,400 in one bet so you'll need to proceed to the high stakes betting area where $10,000 bets are allowed.
So the equation to figure out how much you need based on your your goal winnings is ...
Bank = FirstBet * 128 - FirstBet
Bank = 100 * 128 - 100 = $12,700
If you wanted to win $50 then
Bank = 50 * 128 - 50 = $6,350
Probability of losing streak on American Roulette wheel:
1st loss = 52.63% = ((18/38)^1)*100
2nd loss in a row = 27.70% = ((18/38)^2)*100
3rd loss in a row = 14.58% = ((18/38)^3)*100
4th loss in a row = 7.67% = ((18/38)^4)*100
5th loss in a row = 4.04% = ((18/38)^5)*100
6th loss in a row = 2.13% = ((18/38)^6)*100
Since you have a 2% chance of losing 6 times in a row you should have enough money to cover 5 losses doubling each time.
You would be tempted to keep going but remember that losing streaks do happen and picking red, black, odd or even randomly is no different from selecting red every time. Your chances are still the same. If you do hit that losing streak, you will most likely lose everything you have won so far plus a lot more! So don't be greedy and take your money and run. Also remember that you could hit that losing streak first time so be prepared to lose it all. Also remember that I'm not saying to bet $100 as your first bet. You decide how much you can afford to lose then
Let's say you can afford to lose $1000. Then the equation to figure out your first bet is roughly ...
FirstBet = Bank / 127
FirstBest = 1000 / 127 = $7.9
Round that up to $8 and run it through the Bank equation and you get
Bank = $8 * 128 - $8 = $1016
Let me be clear that in this scenario, you are risking $1016 to win $8! That's why it's risking large amount to win small amount. But the risk is small so as long as you to push your luck too many times, you'll probably walk away a winner. This system is only good for the occasional gambler. If you gamble a lot, this system will not work for you since a single loss can wipe out all of your profits and put you in debt.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Driftless Pony Club: Buckminster Album Review
I learned about the Driftless Pony Club about a month ago after watching this wheezywaiter video on YouTube. I had been watching wheezywaiter videos for 3 or 4 months when he announced his band's latest album was available and they would be going on tour. Since he described their influences as Modest Mouse, Built to Spill, Superchunk, Weezer and the Pixies, I was intrigued so I purchased their album. The album was enjoyable start to finish. The music wasn't anything super-amazing. Just your normal rock music. The lead singer was a bit flat but that's his thing and it works. The lyrics are easy to understand but didn't make any sense to me. The songs didn't seem to be about anything in particular and I began to suspect they simply brainstormed clever phrases and put them together randomly for example
- Please put the whiskey in before the coke 'cause there are some things you don't want to know
- I will never get an F for Effort, that won't bring back my only daughter
- In the house of 1982, built like a ship, your legs are like roots
- I'll tie your eyes together, even if you sleep forever
- If you squeeze my hand again, I'll gladly have a coronary
But then I read the band's web page and learned that the album is based on the life of Buckminster Fuller whom I had never heard of. I knew of many of his inventions but I never knew about the man behind the inventions.
The following text is taken off their web page and describes how they got the idea for the album Buckminster.
Almost two years ago, Nate (the drummer) came to us with a list of essays by Buckminster Fuller with titles such as "In the House of 1982 Built Like a Ship" or "When We Live in Circles and Eat in Merry-Go-Rounds." There were about ten essays, each one with an equally crazy/genius title. He said, for our next album, we should use these as our song titles.
I had heard of Buckminster Fuller. I knew he had invented the geodesic dome but that's as far as my knowledge went. Those essay titles had sparked my curiosity so I read his wikipedia page. Afterward, I wrote a song about him. Over the next couple months, I wrote maybe a dozen more songs of varying quality. All about Buckminster Fuller. By that time, we knew our next album would be all about him.
I was surprised by the scope of his work which went beyond domes and into automobile and map designs, even cities that floated in the sky. He helped popularize the term "Spaceship Earth" and one of the first scientists to consider our impact on the environment. But, most of all, what we found most inspiring about Buckminster Fuller was the incident that led to everything.
In his early thirties, before he had done anything, he was broke, living in Chicago public housing with his young family. His daughter got sick and died. Overcome with guilt, Buckminster started drinking and came close to suicide. But instead of killing himself, he decided to devote the rest of life to seeing what an individual could do to change the world. He saw his entire life as an experiment testing the impact a single person could have on the rest of humanity. That was Buckminster's greatest invention: Himself.
After reading up on Buckminster Fuller, the songs started making sense and the random pictures on the album cover also suddenly starting making sense. The more I listened to the album, the more it made sense and I soon began to realize the genius of this themed album.
I have never met or seen in person a YouTuber but when I learned they would be playing in Philadelphia, I immediately bought my ticket. I was officially a fanboy. I had seen from another YouTuber that reviewed one of their early concerts that they played about 15 songs but at this gig they shared the bill with two other bands so they only played about 8 songs. I have to confess that I really liked the other two bands as well although I felt a little out of place at this all-ages show which seemed to be dominated by high-school girls who seemed mainly there for the Mike Lombardo Trio but who also knew the songs to DPC.
I recorded these songs at the Philly gig.
- Song1 - Starts with "When We Live in Circles and Eat on Merry-Go-Rounds" (album: Buckminster) and transitions to Pluto vs Neptune (album: Expert)
- Song2 - He Plants Houses Like Trees (album: Buckminster)
- Song3 - Inspectors of Inspectors (album: Buckminster)
- Song4 - We're Cheap Already (album: Buckminster)
- Song5 - Legends of Archery (album: Expert)
The also performed Bike from the album Expert but my arm was tired so I didn't record it.
I bought their 3 previous albums on iTunes. So far I've listened to their album Expert and I love it. I suspect each album has it's own personality. This is definitely music by geeks for geeks although you don't have to understand the lyrics to enjoy it.
We're definitely entering a new period of entertainment where it's many to many instead of few to many. In other words, the number of things we have to entertain us has really multiplied with an increase of TV channels and now entertainers on the Internet. I too have people subscribing to my YouTube channel so I too have become an entertainer.
The following are my best guess at the lyrics of each song. I only include each sentence once. Some explanation is included. I've inserted ??? where I'm not sure.
When We Live in Circles and Eat on Merry-Go-Rounds (full lyrics)
- Our beds are empty two thirds of the time
- In an office building I'll be recognized
- Please put the whiskey in before the coke 'cause there are some things you don't want to know
- It's time we gave this some thought, too bad I'll die before I'm gone
- When we live in circles and eat on merry-go-rounds
House of 1982 Built Like a Ship (lyrics here)
- You were my first experiment. Too bad I'm prone to failure (Fuller's daughter died young)
- How can I be a [???] when all I see is tetrahedrons? (the tetrahedron was a very popular geometric shape Fuller used in his architecture)
- I will never get an F for Effort, that won't bring back my only daughter (I think what this lyric is saying is that Fuller will give his best effort in everything he does but nothing he does can bring back his daughter who died at a young age)
- I don't mind if I die unidentified as long as I'm buried in architecture
- What are you offering? Are you offering? Is it free?
- In the house of 1982, built like a ship, your legs are like roots
- I'll tie your eyes together, even if you sleep forever
- If you squeeze my hand again, I'll gladly have a coronary (Fuller died on July 1, 1983, 11 days before his 88th birthday. During the period leading up to his death, his wife had been lying comatose in a Los Angeles hospital, dying of cancer. It was while visiting her there that he exclaimed, at a certain point: "She is squeezing my hand!" He then stood up, suffered a heart attack, and died an hour later, at age 87. His wife of 66 years died 36 hours later)
- When I lost you, I didn't know what I would do but then I conceived of what I could be. A family man, inventor and architect. A [???] subject of this [???]? (Fuller's young daughter Alexandra died from complications from polio and spinal meningitis. Allegedly, he felt responsible and this caused him to drink frequently and to contemplate suicide for a while. He finally chose to embark on "an experiment, to find what a single individual could contribute to changing the world and benefiting all humanity)
He plans Houses Like Trees (lyrics here)
- He plans houses like trees being sculpted by the masks and seeds
- Lets make maps and triangles, lay them flat on the table. Then we'll properly see how the world's meant to be
- They don't make 'em like him
- He wears watches in threes (Fuller was a frequent flier, often crossing time zones. He famously wore three watches; one for the current zone, one for the zone he had departed, and one for the zone he was going to)
- He knows just where he was, is, and where he will be
- We're foaming at the mouth to keep the pressure coming out
- Synchronize your arm of watches to the times that we're approaching
- Shave your head for wind resistant, stay afloat longer than the rest
Inspectors of Inspectors
- Call me Trim Tab, call me whatever
- Not that I need to make a living, or that you need to make a living
- If I just stick my foot out like that, the whole ship's gonna to turn
- I don't know what I am but I'm not a category
- Please stop [???]
- Don't fight the forces, use them
- Inspectors of inspectors won't guide you to it
We're Cheap Already
- Where would I be? What would I do?
- [Augusta?] on a [raid?]
- The first is always a [???] that makes the second one already [???]
- Staring at the walls, dancing to [???] and in [tetris???] in [???] ... ??? ... will break
- We'll be buried in keepsakes
- The last time I went in, I failed to leave a tip, cuz I don't think ahead. I'll make it up to them tomorrow with quarters and cigarettes, but I don't smoke
- I went to sleep about an hour ago
A Letter to Michael
- The things to do are the things that need doing
- Thinking is momentary dismal of thinking of hearing from a letter to Michael. I've answered your questions. An array of behaviors in an endless cycle.
- It's not enough, you've got to make it up.
El Cid III
- You're running in heals, your falling down
- You cinch your skirt, adjust your mouth
- A rupture here in Tel Aviv, talking over, answer me
- We're chemicals and evidence
- We're calling off this century
- A broken nail, an injury, someone's effects scattered in the street
- Hail a cab cuz it's easy when showing leg over sympathy
Dymaxion Chronofile
- I guess it's time to write it down. This could take a while. Document a life until it dies. 1983. Write it down (The Dymaxion Chronofile is Buckminster Fuller's attempt to document his life as completely as possible. He created a very large scrapbook in which he documented his life every 15 minutes from 1920 to 1983. The scrapbook contains copies of all correspondence, bills, notes, sketches, and clippings from newspapers. The total collection is estimated to be 270 feet (80 m) worth of paper. This is said to be the most documented human life in history)
- Your silence, we hear, again and again and again. Our eyes, our ears, again and again and again.
- The words you spoke we'll never know the sound.
- The wind blew through the waves and make a round.
- We'll never know, but I can breathe the air as I read it there.
- I'm not stupid, I'm just naive. I really don't mind and it's how I'd rather be. I'm not a genius, I'm just a man. I really don't mind. This is exactly what I planned.
American Princes
- I don't make much money. That's OK. I don't work too hard (Fuller never pursued inventions for the sake of riches. He wanted to improve humanity)
- A better man may better himself. I bet I don't amount to much.
- The only time I read a book is on my way to class, resting against the safety glass, I forget where I left off.
- Wires knit the city to stitches. Hahaha.
- Being [???] we make up words, we talk back words, ... ??? .. I know how it sounds. It sounds absurd like hahaha.
- Every time I read a book, I mis-interpret what it means. I think it applies to only me. Hahaha.
- I make a better liar, friend or witness?
- What ever happened to American Princess?
Safe as Houses
- Wake up singing rabbit rabbit. I sing the same song. I know where it comes out. It's getting clearer through the static. [???] to the light bulb tied to a new [???].
- I know, because it comes easy to you.
- I tried to compromise where our body start, and now I can't tell the two of us apart.
- And every dirty thought and smoky cough, spills over my teeth and out my mouth.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Lost Unanswered Questions
I just finished watching the last season of Lost and although they did a good job trying to answer the unanswered questions, they still left a lot of questions unanswered. Watch this video and you'll see what I mean.
Some of the things this video asks were answered though.
The video asks "Why are supplies still being dropped on the island after the purge and by who?" They answered that question. There was a company setup to deliver supplies and it had no idea who or what those supplies were for. Ben shut it down.
It also asks "Why can't women have babies?" It's because of the electromagnetic force of the island. That is explained in the DVD that Ben shows the who workers when he shows up from the "home office" to shut down the shipping of the supplies to the island.
It also asks "Why doesn't the rule of time travel apply to Desmond?" It's because he has a resistance for some reason to the electromagnetic force of the island. We don't know why but he's special that way.
Here is a good list of unanswered questions by episode.
My biggest question is "Why was Walt so important and why did the others want him?"
I think Walt was phased out of the show because he grew up too quickly. When you move from one season to the next and he's suddenly 6" taller, it wouldn't make sense that he'd age so much on "island time".
I'd also like to know why Hurley didn't drop in weight after sustaining himself on a diet of natural fruits and vegetables. I remember some character asking the same question and pointing out that he'd actually gained weight while on the island.
How is that Ana Lucia appears as an LAPD cop to Jack after he returns to the mainland after she died on the island?
I like shows that have a beginning, middle and end but I like to know that there's a plan. This show had no plan. They obviously made it up as they went along otherwise all questions would have been answered.
I was entertained for 6 seasons. The show never "jumped the shark" for me but in the end I realize that it floundered around for the sake of being entertaining without having a clear story arc and for that, I'm a little annoyed. This must have been what it felt like to be a fan of Twin Peaks when it ended. At least they got two movies out of it to help answer some of the unanswered questions but I'm sure they were still left unsatisfied just like I feel.
Some of the things this video asks were answered though.
The video asks "Why are supplies still being dropped on the island after the purge and by who?" They answered that question. There was a company setup to deliver supplies and it had no idea who or what those supplies were for. Ben shut it down.
It also asks "Why can't women have babies?" It's because of the electromagnetic force of the island. That is explained in the DVD that Ben shows the who workers when he shows up from the "home office" to shut down the shipping of the supplies to the island.
It also asks "Why doesn't the rule of time travel apply to Desmond?" It's because he has a resistance for some reason to the electromagnetic force of the island. We don't know why but he's special that way.
Here is a good list of unanswered questions by episode.
My biggest question is "Why was Walt so important and why did the others want him?"
I think Walt was phased out of the show because he grew up too quickly. When you move from one season to the next and he's suddenly 6" taller, it wouldn't make sense that he'd age so much on "island time".
I'd also like to know why Hurley didn't drop in weight after sustaining himself on a diet of natural fruits and vegetables. I remember some character asking the same question and pointing out that he'd actually gained weight while on the island.
How is that Ana Lucia appears as an LAPD cop to Jack after he returns to the mainland after she died on the island?
I like shows that have a beginning, middle and end but I like to know that there's a plan. This show had no plan. They obviously made it up as they went along otherwise all questions would have been answered.
I was entertained for 6 seasons. The show never "jumped the shark" for me but in the end I realize that it floundered around for the sake of being entertaining without having a clear story arc and for that, I'm a little annoyed. This must have been what it felt like to be a fan of Twin Peaks when it ended. At least they got two movies out of it to help answer some of the unanswered questions but I'm sure they were still left unsatisfied just like I feel.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Mel Gibson rants on Facade
Facade is a one-act interactive drama. You are invited to visit Trip and Grace but you soon learn they are having marital problems. Can you help save their marriage? Every time you play it, it's different, even if you say and do the same thing. If you are rude, you will probably get thrown out. Don't mention the word "melon". They are offended and get angry probably because they interpret it as slang for "breast" even if the context is "Can I have some melon juice?" Does Grace leave Trip or vice-versa? Are you asked to leave? It's very interesting to try to try different thing.
All 6 episodes are from a single take on Facade using quotes and sound-bites from Mel Gibson rants with his then girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. All obscenities have been removed. Lucky for me, Mel is one of the names you can choose in Facade.
I downloaded Facade at http://interactivestory.net
I downloaded the 3 Mel Gibson rants at Rapid Share
Rant 1
Rant 2
Rant 3
About 90% of the videos on YouTube end with you getting thrown out. People just love to insult Grace and Trip and watch their reaction.
I got this funny idea to only use quotes from Mel Gibson rants. I downloaded a few MP3s of his rants and transcribed them then selected the quotes I thought I could use. Then I organized them into sections like Hello, Insult, Art, Therapy so I could more easily find the quotes that were related to what's happening since I have to reply in real time. I did several test runs to refine how the quotes were organized. I probably played over 20 games before I finally got a scene that I was happy with. I was only planning on one video but my drama lasted 35 minutes and YouTube videos are limited to 15 minutes. So I changed my plan to release it as a series of 6 episodes short episodes.
I saved out the individual sound bites from the MP3 rants and removed the obscene words. My story is extremely long compared to the average story which usually lasts about 5 or 10 minutes. Trip and Grace were quite confused by my comments.
All 6 episodes are from a single take on Facade using quotes and sound-bites from Mel Gibson rants with his then girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. All obscenities have been removed. Lucky for me, Mel is one of the names you can choose in Facade.
I downloaded Facade at http://interactivestory.net
I downloaded the 3 Mel Gibson rants at Rapid Share
Rant 1
Rant 2
Rant 3
This is episode 1 of 6 for Mel Gibson visits Facade.
I won't tell you the outcome. You'll have to wait until episode 6 but I can tell you it's very unique as far as videos I've seen on YouTube. I have not seen another YouTube video with this outcome.
I used Fraps to record the video, Dexster to edit the audio and PowerDirector to combine audio and video and upload to YouTube.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Pizza Box Flyer
You can watch my Parkzone F4U Corsair crash and burn here.
I am now without an RC plane so I'm building my own. This will be a PBF aka Pizza Box Flyer. Here is another example.
Here is my original drawing and idea.
I decided to keep it simple and go rectangular. I bought 10 sheets of depron foam each sheet 14" x 40" in size and 6mm thick. I glued and taped 3 of those pieces together and taped on two flaps.
I'll be able to tell top from bottom by how many strips. Two strips is bottom, one strip is top. There will be no vertical stabilizer. This PBF will have no rudder and will therefore not be able to yaw. The two flaps will act as both the elevator and aileron, aka known as elevons.
I'll purchase some stiff but light weight rods to stiffen the structure.
I'm going to take the guts of a Parkzone F4U Corsair to drive it. I broke down the cost of my Corsair part by part here. I'll use the following for my PBF.
I'm trying to dream up some kind of launch system for example a sling-shot to help get the PBF up to speed. If I can quickly get it high up, I can react and correct issues. If it's close to the ground, a mistake could lead to a crash.
I am not sure how to balance this plane or if it will be too heavy to fly. If it is too heavy, I can always trim the foam back and make it smaller. I'm considering cutting a rectangle about 3" deep from the front center, wide enough for the propeller. The purpose would be to protect the propeller from a front-end crash.
I am now without an RC plane so I'm building my own. This will be a PBF aka Pizza Box Flyer. Here is another example.
Here is my original drawing and idea.
I decided to keep it simple and go rectangular. I bought 10 sheets of depron foam each sheet 14" x 40" in size and 6mm thick. I glued and taped 3 of those pieces together and taped on two flaps.
I'll be able to tell top from bottom by how many strips. Two strips is bottom, one strip is top. There will be no vertical stabilizer. This PBF will have no rudder and will therefore not be able to yaw. The two flaps will act as both the elevator and aileron, aka known as elevons.
I'll purchase some stiff but light weight rods to stiffen the structure.
I'm going to take the guts of a Parkzone F4U Corsair to drive it. I broke down the cost of my Corsair part by part here. I'll use the following for my PBF.
- 480 Brushless Outrunner Motor, 960Kv: T-28
- 2 Blade Propeller
- Propeller Hub
- 11.1V 1800mAh Li-Po Battery
- SV80 Long Lead 3-wire servo: T28
- 30-Amp Pro Switch-mode BEC Brushless ESC
- AR500 DSM2 5-Channel Sport Receiver
- Servo Y-Harness: 3D2, T-28
- Pushrods with Clevis
I'm trying to dream up some kind of launch system for example a sling-shot to help get the PBF up to speed. If I can quickly get it high up, I can react and correct issues. If it's close to the ground, a mistake could lead to a crash.
I am not sure how to balance this plane or if it will be too heavy to fly. If it is too heavy, I can always trim the foam back and make it smaller. I'm considering cutting a rectangle about 3" deep from the front center, wide enough for the propeller. The purpose would be to protect the propeller from a front-end crash.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Lost in Space is stupid (Part 4)
Season 3: The Time Merchant
Time travel stories are very difficult to tell. What happens in the past will influence the future. If you travel back in time, do you replace yourself or are there now two of you? In the case of this episode, the person traveling back in time replaces themselves temporarily until they return to their normal time. Then their old selves return to their normal place and time as if nothing happened. How convenient ... and stupid.
Dr. Smith, the robot and Will all travel back in time. For some reason, the robot's memory is somehow reset to what it was in the past but he managed to eventually remember who he really is. The Will that travels back in time is much older than the Will of 1997 before the Jupiter 2 lifted off into space.
When Will goes back in time, he conveniently appears next to the robot who has also gone back time instead of appearing where is younger self is. Stupid.
Will is also wearing his purple clothes from Season 3. When Dr. Smith went back in time, he was dressed in the clothes he wore at that time. Stupid.
Let's go back to the beginning. During a cosmic storm, Will creates a trap to capture cosmic particles but instead captures Dr. Chronos the Time Merchant. According to Chronos, he controls time. When they captured him, there was nobody running the factory so in his own words "The time tapes have gone amok. They're running backwards, sideways and upside down." He's lost time so he claims that Will owes him time so he hypnotizes Will and they return to his factory via the cosmic trap which as apparently opened up a dimensional opening. Prof. Robinson, the robot and Dr. Smith follow. There are no women in this episode. The stupid thing is that Prof. Robinson somehow knows how to travel through the dimensional portal by placing his hands just right. Stupid.
Dr. Smith seems to know how to use Dr. Chronos time machine. He jumps into the cage and throws the level and somehow he goes to the place and time he wants auto-magically. This happens over and over in this episode with Will, the robot and Prof. Robinson. Stupid.
Chronos explains "Everybody has a time tape. But if they run hither and tither, to and fro, back and forth, never slowing down for a moment ... they use their time tapes up all the faster." Chronos is a bad guy because he blows up planets that waste time so we're supposed to feel good when his factory gets blown up.
At one point, they need more power so Will gets on treadmill since they need axillary power. Stupid.
Dr. Smith travels back to 1997 right before the Jupiter 2 lift-off. He decides to stay on Earth of course. If Dr. Smith does not get on the Jupiter 2 then his weight will not throw off the trajectory and the Jupiter 2 will be destroyed by uncharted asteroids and the Robinson's will cease to exist. But now we'll have a time travel paradox. If the Robinson's die then Dr. Smith can never go back and time and avoid getting on the Jupiter 2 therefore he will get on the Jupiter 2 and we're stuck in an infinite loop. Dr. Smith and the robot get on the Jupiter 2 then are transported back to the future. At that point, the robot and Dr. Smith of the past must then continue the past time line.
At the end of the episode, the factory gets completely destroyed. Based on what Chronos said earlier, that should have destroyed time as well but apparently "time" is fine. Really stupid.
Bonus Stupid: Any SciFi show that goes around the universe finding humanoids that speak English can't be taken seriously. Lost in Space is one of those shows.
Time travel stories are very difficult to tell. What happens in the past will influence the future. If you travel back in time, do you replace yourself or are there now two of you? In the case of this episode, the person traveling back in time replaces themselves temporarily until they return to their normal time. Then their old selves return to their normal place and time as if nothing happened. How convenient ... and stupid.
Dr. Smith, the robot and Will all travel back in time. For some reason, the robot's memory is somehow reset to what it was in the past but he managed to eventually remember who he really is. The Will that travels back in time is much older than the Will of 1997 before the Jupiter 2 lifted off into space.
When Will goes back in time, he conveniently appears next to the robot who has also gone back time instead of appearing where is younger self is. Stupid.
Will is also wearing his purple clothes from Season 3. When Dr. Smith went back in time, he was dressed in the clothes he wore at that time. Stupid.
Let's go back to the beginning. During a cosmic storm, Will creates a trap to capture cosmic particles but instead captures Dr. Chronos the Time Merchant. According to Chronos, he controls time. When they captured him, there was nobody running the factory so in his own words "The time tapes have gone amok. They're running backwards, sideways and upside down." He's lost time so he claims that Will owes him time so he hypnotizes Will and they return to his factory via the cosmic trap which as apparently opened up a dimensional opening. Prof. Robinson, the robot and Dr. Smith follow. There are no women in this episode. The stupid thing is that Prof. Robinson somehow knows how to travel through the dimensional portal by placing his hands just right. Stupid.
Dr. Smith seems to know how to use Dr. Chronos time machine. He jumps into the cage and throws the level and somehow he goes to the place and time he wants auto-magically. This happens over and over in this episode with Will, the robot and Prof. Robinson. Stupid.
Chronos explains "Everybody has a time tape. But if they run hither and tither, to and fro, back and forth, never slowing down for a moment ... they use their time tapes up all the faster." Chronos is a bad guy because he blows up planets that waste time so we're supposed to feel good when his factory gets blown up.
At one point, they need more power so Will gets on treadmill since they need axillary power. Stupid.
Dr. Smith travels back to 1997 right before the Jupiter 2 lift-off. He decides to stay on Earth of course. If Dr. Smith does not get on the Jupiter 2 then his weight will not throw off the trajectory and the Jupiter 2 will be destroyed by uncharted asteroids and the Robinson's will cease to exist. But now we'll have a time travel paradox. If the Robinson's die then Dr. Smith can never go back and time and avoid getting on the Jupiter 2 therefore he will get on the Jupiter 2 and we're stuck in an infinite loop. Dr. Smith and the robot get on the Jupiter 2 then are transported back to the future. At that point, the robot and Dr. Smith of the past must then continue the past time line.
At the end of the episode, the factory gets completely destroyed. Based on what Chronos said earlier, that should have destroyed time as well but apparently "time" is fine. Really stupid.
Bonus Stupid: Any SciFi show that goes around the universe finding humanoids that speak English can't be taken seriously. Lost in Space is one of those shows.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Lost in Space is stupid (Part 3)
Season 3: Episode 17: Princess of Space
This is one of THE Worst Episodes Ever. It was so boring and campy, I had to force myself to watch it in multiple short intervals.
A space pirate is searching for Princess Alpha of the planet Beta. You'd think they could get a little more creative with the names. It turns out that a nurse hid the Princess on Earth by converting her to computer tape and hiding her inside the robot a few years ago before the Jupiter 2 left Earth.
The people on planet Beta figured out how to reduce a person to tape. You can then transmit the person and reconstruct the person on the other end. It's a great way to travel long distance quickly. It's essentially the same as a Star Trek transporter. You are disintegrated and in the process, your atomic structure is recorded. A device can then be sent your structure and regenerate you down to the atom. You have been killed. What is created is a perfect copy of you. For the religious, this means your soul either goes to heaven or hell and the copy has no soul. Little kids just don't think of these things.
In this picture, Will examines Dr. Smith who has been converted to tape and is probably burning in hell.
The pirate has a telescope that sounds an alarm when the telescope is pointed at her. The telescope alarm did not make a sound sound when pointed at Earth because the tape was in the robot which was traveling through space.
The pirate happens upon the planet the Robinson's are on and follows the telescope to the robot. He mistakes Penny for the Princess because she's standing next to the robot.
Penny is taken back to the ship and the Royal Aunt is transmitted by radio to the ship to see if she's the real Princess. I have to wonder why Penny wasn't transmitted to Beta instead. When the Royal Aunt arrives, she has a long talk with Penny and she decides Penny is the true Princess. The stupid thing is the Royal Aunt has a scepter that can prove if she is the Princess or not but she doesn't use it. They have a coronation ceremony to declare her the official Princess with no real evidence. Stupid. The machines rebel when Penny gets the scepter. They want to steal the scepter and take over the planet Beta. Penny tries to stop the machines with the scepter but only the true Princess can do it.
The nurse that hid the Princess on Earth had sent back the message K12B6 to planet Beta. Nobody understood the message. It was actually the encryption key to decode the computer data on the tape inside the robot. It's also the password they use to program the robot. Will figures it out and the robot is told to dematerialize the Princess using the code K12B6. The robot rolls over to the materializer and flips some switches and the princess appears. I'm assuming the robot decoded the data and wirelessly transmitted it to the machine to materialize the Princess.
On a side-note, I think I know why they chose the code K12B6. The French book The Little Prince, which was published in 1943, had the Prince living on an asteroid the size of a house called B612.
On another side-note, the robot can only roll forward and backward. You never see the robot turn using those treads. I'm guessing it doesn't work too well. There are times the robot is moving about freely but they shoot that from the knees up and the operator inside the robot suit is walking.
The servant is discovered to be a robot.
The servant robot is converted to an EBCDIC card instead of tape. That's a bit old fashioned but when the episode aired Jan 10, 1968, the EBCDIC punch-cards has been used for about 4 years to store data and programs so it made sense. The current year in this episode is close to the year 2010 (my estimate) so its stupid they are using paper to store data. You'd think the SciFi writers would have been a little more forward thinking. Or perhaps we're meant to believe that you can store information about every atom of a being in some technologically advanced piece of paper.
Why is it when the Jupiter 2 lands on dirt, it drills deep into the surface? When it lands on pavement, it lands using its landing gear. Remember that there is a lower deck underground. It's essentially their basement in the scene above. Here is a scene from Season 2 Episode 2 Wild Adventure on the lower level looking out the window.
We also learn in Season 3 Episode 10 The Space Creature that there is a sub-basement shown below.
Do you really think there is room for a basement and a sub-basement?
They must think we're stupid ... or a child who doesn't question these things.
More stupid stuff: Will gets into a Deck Vent to hide ...
... then the controls he needs to eavesdrop conveniently appear.
Bonus Stupid: In zero gravity, you have gravity IF you're inside a space ship. But when you're OUTSIDE a space-ship, you float and move in slow motion. Stupid!
More Bonus Stupid: There is no toilet or shower on the Jupiter 2. Stupid!
This is one of THE Worst Episodes Ever. It was so boring and campy, I had to force myself to watch it in multiple short intervals.
A space pirate is searching for Princess Alpha of the planet Beta. You'd think they could get a little more creative with the names. It turns out that a nurse hid the Princess on Earth by converting her to computer tape and hiding her inside the robot a few years ago before the Jupiter 2 left Earth.
The people on planet Beta figured out how to reduce a person to tape. You can then transmit the person and reconstruct the person on the other end. It's a great way to travel long distance quickly. It's essentially the same as a Star Trek transporter. You are disintegrated and in the process, your atomic structure is recorded. A device can then be sent your structure and regenerate you down to the atom. You have been killed. What is created is a perfect copy of you. For the religious, this means your soul either goes to heaven or hell and the copy has no soul. Little kids just don't think of these things.
In this picture, Will examines Dr. Smith who has been converted to tape and is probably burning in hell.
The pirate has a telescope that sounds an alarm when the telescope is pointed at her. The telescope alarm did not make a sound sound when pointed at Earth because the tape was in the robot which was traveling through space.
The pirate happens upon the planet the Robinson's are on and follows the telescope to the robot. He mistakes Penny for the Princess because she's standing next to the robot.
Penny is taken back to the ship and the Royal Aunt is transmitted by radio to the ship to see if she's the real Princess. I have to wonder why Penny wasn't transmitted to Beta instead. When the Royal Aunt arrives, she has a long talk with Penny and she decides Penny is the true Princess. The stupid thing is the Royal Aunt has a scepter that can prove if she is the Princess or not but she doesn't use it. They have a coronation ceremony to declare her the official Princess with no real evidence. Stupid. The machines rebel when Penny gets the scepter. They want to steal the scepter and take over the planet Beta. Penny tries to stop the machines with the scepter but only the true Princess can do it.
The nurse that hid the Princess on Earth had sent back the message K12B6 to planet Beta. Nobody understood the message. It was actually the encryption key to decode the computer data on the tape inside the robot. It's also the password they use to program the robot. Will figures it out and the robot is told to dematerialize the Princess using the code K12B6. The robot rolls over to the materializer and flips some switches and the princess appears. I'm assuming the robot decoded the data and wirelessly transmitted it to the machine to materialize the Princess.
On a side-note, I think I know why they chose the code K12B6. The French book The Little Prince, which was published in 1943, had the Prince living on an asteroid the size of a house called B612.
On another side-note, the robot can only roll forward and backward. You never see the robot turn using those treads. I'm guessing it doesn't work too well. There are times the robot is moving about freely but they shoot that from the knees up and the operator inside the robot suit is walking.
The servant is discovered to be a robot.
The servant robot is converted to an EBCDIC card instead of tape. That's a bit old fashioned but when the episode aired Jan 10, 1968, the EBCDIC punch-cards has been used for about 4 years to store data and programs so it made sense. The current year in this episode is close to the year 2010 (my estimate) so its stupid they are using paper to store data. You'd think the SciFi writers would have been a little more forward thinking. Or perhaps we're meant to believe that you can store information about every atom of a being in some technologically advanced piece of paper.
Why is it when the Jupiter 2 lands on dirt, it drills deep into the surface? When it lands on pavement, it lands using its landing gear. Remember that there is a lower deck underground. It's essentially their basement in the scene above. Here is a scene from Season 2 Episode 2 Wild Adventure on the lower level looking out the window.
We also learn in Season 3 Episode 10 The Space Creature that there is a sub-basement shown below.
Do you really think there is room for a basement and a sub-basement?
They must think we're stupid ... or a child who doesn't question these things.
More stupid stuff: Will gets into a Deck Vent to hide ...
... then the controls he needs to eavesdrop conveniently appear.
Bonus Stupid: In zero gravity, you have gravity IF you're inside a space ship. But when you're OUTSIDE a space-ship, you float and move in slow motion. Stupid!
More Bonus Stupid: There is no toilet or shower on the Jupiter 2. Stupid!
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