Flux Capacitor 50th Anniversary

November 5th 2005 marked the 50th anniverasay of the invention of the Flux Capacitor and not a single news agency made mention of it. So I "borrowed" this from wikipedia.org to pay homage to perhaps the most significant invention in history.

The flux capacitor is the fictitious core component of Dr. Brown's time traveling De Lorean in the popular 1985 movie Back to the Future. We learn from Doc Brown that the flux capacitor "is what makes time travel possible."

Since the Back to the Future movies the Flux Capacitor term has been used jokingly by computer and network technicians to define computer related oddities.

It requires 1.21 gigawatts (GW) of electricity originally supplied by some kind of combination of a plutonium powered nuclear reactor and the De Lorean accelerating to 88 MPH (142 km/h), by use of its gasoline powered internal combustion engine. During its first two trips (one minute forward in time, and back in time to 1955) the combination was used without incident. However, during its next trip (back to 1985), plutonium was not available and a lightning rod was connected directly to the flux capacitor and was used while the vehicle sustained 88 MPH. Plutonium was used once again for a trip forward in time at least 30 years, and at some point thereafter the plutonium reactor was replaced by a "Mr. Fusion" home energy generator from the future that was somehow fuelled by garbage. Due to lack of gasoline and a broken fuel line, the De Lorean's final trip from 1885 to 1985 was partially powered by a steam locomotive pushing the vehicle up to 88 MPH.

"Jigawatt"
In the movie, the power required is pronounced "1.21 jigawatts". Although this is a correct pronunciation, it is no longer the most common. (In addition, since Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale were unfamiliar with the term, they misspelled it in the script.) Because of this, a "jigowatt" (as spelled in the novelization) will sometimes be referred to on Internet forums as a fictional unit or to make fun of someone's electrical knowledge.
Because of its popularity, the flux capacitor has been adopted by various science fiction authors who did not wish to explain time travel, similar to the way writers have used Isaac Asimov's positronic brain in robots.


So here's to the Flux Capacitor and "Since you're new here, I'm gonna cut you a break... today. So, why don't you make like a tree and get out of here? "

Rossum's Robots (The last time I promise)

So here is a quick synopsis of the play for those of you who missed my awe inspiring performance and are dying to know what happened.

I played Dr. Halemeir, a doctor of psychology on an island that is the home of Rossum's Universal Robots. We had designed robots to do all the work of man. They were strong and intelligent but had "no will of there own. No passion. No Soul."

Things were going great until this lady came along trying to "liberate" the robots, give them rights. She eventually convinced one of the scientist to develop the souls of the robots, making them more human.

Eventually the robots revolted against us. While everyone else was horror stricken at the sight of the robots revolting outside of the window, I took the opportunity to strike a pose for the camera.


We put up the best defense we could. We laid down electrical wire to "char the robots to cinders" and put up barriers where we could.




But, it was all to no avail. I defenses were to small when compared to the thousands of robots. Soon we were overtaken by the very robots we had created.


And though I was charged with the formidable and unthinkable task of making the last stand for human kind, I was caught off guard when the cowardly robot Radius, who had led the revolt, snuck up behind me and stab me in the back. It was a sad moment, and many an audience member wept. Not only for the lost of Dr. Halemeir, played by yours truly, but for what seemed like the end of mankind.
To be cont'd......