Discussion on:

Five extinction events more likely than the Mayan Apocalypse

Seriously, don't let geekend die.

Here's another vote to preserve the Geekend.

I do not see how it gets in the way of TR doing its main stuff, a little sidebar of humor and knowledge is a good thing.

Mr. Garmon,

I appreciate your 'just before Christmas' mood enhancer; nothing like the end of the world to remind us of the true joy of giving - or flaming out in massive style.

But I must question your list, because you obviously forgot one other possible option: Zombie Apocolypse!!!

original voodoo zombies or the idiotic Hollywood style zombies created in the 1950s or 1960s for fiction horror films. First is no issue as the zombies can only follow simple orders. The second is only likely if some lab has been working on some sort of bio-weapon to create such things and it gets out or is used.

Geekend makes me laugh at times and that is how the authors write it. The rest of Techrepublic are people writing trying to be serious and come off sounding buffonish and people STILL laugh at them. At least Geekend is suppose to be funny.

The other TR newsletters have been gradually declining in value, and the lamest articles get repeated a lot.
Oh well, I'll be able to reduce my spam a bunch.

TR needs to keep Geekend. Life needs humor.

the situation is, but the data available from the Soviet Union is that, in their own words, "significant numbers of smaller nuclear devices are unaccounted for." In short, someone stole a large number of tactical nuclear weapons and either has them for sale or has sold them as they'd have likely used them by now if they were for personal power use. Even the US has a number of TNW on their 'can't find' weapons lists.

Some of them are likely to turn up with various terrorist organisations when they can come up with the money to buy them, and then it's anyone's guess on where they'll be used.

http://www.kgun9.com/news/local/184176911.html#.UNN6yKQ_RWE.facebook

you must get to Willcox Arizona pronto, the rest of us, well, kinda out of luck.

Too bad other places have not taken a proactive approch to this, a lot of lives could have been saved.

Thanks, Jay.

Your post here is just unacceptable in any form.

Don't you know that the End of the World no matter how unlikely is the PERFECT EXCUSE for a party?

So the World Ends Today sometime depending on what the Mayans used as an Equivalent to our current International Date Line and I'm going to that Party.

The possibility of Killing Off Geekend sucks so badly that it looks as if TR is attempting to shut it's doors and destroy what was what attracted people here in the first place. If all you can manage are Serious Looks at things it's time to retire from the Gene Pool as you are doing nothing but Polluting it.

Col

The Vogan Constructor Fleet arriving today and destroying the planet to make way for a Space Bypass Lane. Under their Bureaucratic ways they are not required to inform the planet because it causes way too much paper work as they have to record every complaint and pass it on for examination and have those complaints vetted for any possible complaints against the Vogan Constructor Fleet.

So the first thing we'll all know about it is when the planet comes under attack and starts to disintegrate.

The Enterprise will not come back through a Time Warp and save the day as they never existed so there will be nothing to stop the Vogans.

Even the Invid knew enough to stay away as they didn't want to be involved, the Vogans are way to bureaucratic for them too.

Jay I should also mention that the Daughter in Law wants your Guts for Garters as it's her Burfday today and she's having a End of the World Birthday Party which can not be canceled under any circumstances.

Col

nt

how can you guys be here? you should have perished already!!!

it starts at the Mayan time zone, we get an extra day.

or they? Mayan time should be relatively close to my time? Mayan time (or Central American time) runs two hours behind my time. So, what time do they predict it will end? Is it noon, midnight, etc?

just thinking that it could run thru the time zones, like New Years, the earth will be sucked up hour by hour as the time changes.

This is silly, not going to happen.

And I was so looking forward to some sort of excitement

nt

But you need to remember it's Mayan Time hence the reference to what the Mayan's used as our International Date Line. That's anything up to a day difference depending on where they started their day.

Col

nt

So we have heaps of time yet to get totally Plastered.

Col

orbiting around out there in the vicinity of Jupiter?

To think that you could return Home one day.

Col

@HAL - from memory, all complaints are "sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found and finally buried in soft peat and recycled as firelighters."

We've been reading of the so-called "Post PC Era" that is supposedly upon us...
surely that ranks as an extinction level event!
We could also put the death of the IT department in there as well since it is
supposed to be extinct now that everything is in the "cloud"!

Paper Office.

It's been dead a long time now since the Paperless Office arose. Only problem is I haven't been able to find one yet.

Col

It's right beside the paperless bathroom.

Couldn't resist...

you can get a system that works a lot like a bidet to do the same without paper.

Used Fish.

Not sure how good it was for the fish but it sounds somewhat different.

Col

wiped with the scales facing the correct direction.

or maybe use those "algae suckers"? Hehe!
I know...I'm twisted, what can I say?

twisted you are at times - and that's a compliment.

I am amazed that climate change is not mentioned. Maybe some life will survive but this is a real threat of the possible extinction of our species. p>0.5?

Jay Gammon hopes "to write science fiction". Please may he give priority to physical and biological reality.

From across the pond, I predict oil and fundamentalist replies!

Also, Jay's surname is "Garmon", but that's beside the point.
Should Isaac Asimov have written science text books instead of science
fiction? Should no one have a dream to follow? You can't expect everyone
to be so pragmatic that no thoughts of "What if?" are allowed or we as a
society would still be living in caves, having never dreamed of putting a
few sticks and fronds together to form a shelter, no need for inventiveness
at all.

but Asimov did write text books and non-fiction, including some Biblical studies. He also edited a massive collection of filthy limericks.

probably should have chosen a different phrase though...

All the countries most likely to use a nuke as a first strike or terrorist weapon only have or can get 1 or 2 operational nukes.

Personally, my policy recommendation is for the U.S. to declare any first strike use of nukes against any country will result in the nuclear obliteration of the offending country. (I'd have suggested the U.N. Big 5 but that group (and the U.N. as a whole) couldn't organize a an office party amongst themselves, much less be trusted with the security of the world.) We don't have the be the policemen on the world, but on that issue we should grab the minotaur by the horns.

And you use nukes whith high thermal and blast in that case that are detonated as high air bursts to minimize radioactivity. Neutron bombs would be ideal. Point is, we'd probably only have to do it once, and all those petty, tinpot madmen running totalitarian state would get the message. And we'd have eliminated the worst of the bunch.

Geekend, that is.

There are to camps here ... 1) "They come in peace" and the more likely 2) They're here for something.
It may not be total annihilation of mankind but it would certainly take us down a notch.

Since the possibility of a robotic uprising is "unknown" which would be more likely? An alien invasion or a robotic uprising? Keep in mind that aliens could have technology that can hide thier presence OR they could just be flying around and " Hey look, A new fresh planet with lot of resources. Lets go git em, boss."