Фантасты любят изображать подводные города и всяких подводных жителей. Начиная от Звездных Войн с гунганами, и заканчивая новыми фильмами по комиксам (и их первоисточниками): в DC есть Атлантида, в Марвел вот ввели Талокан (который в комиксах вроде бы тоже буквально Атлантида). И там и там появление подводных людей объясняется как-то так: были обычные наземные люди, потом с ними что-то случилось, воздействие какой-то фигни, они, дескать, мутировали и стали жить под водой.
У меня в такие моменты отключается приостановка неверия. Ну не может существо с похожим на человеческое телом постоянно жить под водой. Дерек Кюнскен в книге "Квантовый волшебник", о которой я вам рассказывал, описывает людей, генетически измененных для постоянной жизни в океане. Во-первых, у них нет подвижных век, потому что глаза не нужно смачивать. Крупная относительно тела голова, глаза огромные, чешуя. Во-вторых, хвост вместо ног. И правда, если существа не опираются на поверхность, у них нет необходимости в ногах. Да, по сюжету они изредка выходят на сушу. Тут мы можем для примера посмотреть на животных, которые дышат атмосферным кислородом, но чье тело биомеханически приспособлено к воде: морские котики, тюлени, моржи, пингвины итд. Они на земле довольно неуклюжи, могут разве что медленно переваливаться. В-третьих, люди-рыбы у Кюнскена не используют звуковую речь и общаются колебаниями электромагнитного поля. Обычным людям по сюжету приходится применять специальные синтезаторы голоса, чтобы общаться с амфибиями. Ну и конечно никакой речи не может идти о присутствии рыболюдей на суше и использовании ими человеческих инструментов и инфраструктуры. Их транспортируют в больших чанах с водой под давлением, и такие же делают отсеки в космических кораблях, где они нужны (там в книге эти рыбы могут выдерживать большие перегрузки и поэтому служат пилотами на истребителях).
А в фильмах существа с ногами и веками живут постоянно в воде, в темноте и холоде, не имея удобного для передвижения и коммуникации тела. Не верю! Даже по меркам киносказок. Верю в подводный город Восторг из первого Bioshock, в котором просто построенные на дне дома с атмосферой для людей. Там в процессе игры постоянно ощущаешь, насколько чужеродна для человека толща океана вокруг, и как много усилий пришлось приложить инженерам, чтобы сдержать чудовищное давление и обеспечить какую-то возможность передвигаться и вести свою деятельность.
#fiction
Super Bowl Ad TRICKING You Into Welcoming Surveillance State!
During the Super Bowl, you may have seen a commercial for #Amazon’s #Ring “Search Party” feature, which uses an emotional lost-dog story to encourage adoption of participation in what amounts to a widespread neighborhood #surveillance net. Jimmy points out that the ad masks #privacy risks tied to AI-driven #cameras, data sharing, and Amazon’s broader surveillance ecosystem, including concerns about opt-out defaults and government access.
He and Americans’ Comedian Kurt Metzger expand the discussion into a broader critique of social media and smart devices as tools of self-surveillance, suggesting public safety and convenience are being used to justify constant monitoring. Ultimately, it frames the commercial as emblematic of a growing surveillance state presented as benevolent technology.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AJtRDjoXN4
#why
#Victory80
🌟 February 2, 1943, one of the most brutal battles of #WWII and all of history — the Battle of Stalingrad — concluded.
For 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ days and nights the Battle of Stalingrad raged on the banks of the Don and the Volga rivers, and in the city proper, or rather what was left of it following merciless Nazi bombardments and stubborn defender fighting for every street, alley and house. The battle itself surpassed in scope and intensity all prior battles of #WWII. During that battle, more than 2.1 million people fought on both sides.
By the end of June 1942, the Nazis concentrated in the strip of land from Kursk to Taganrog on the front of 600-650 kilometers up to 35% of infantry, over 50% of armour and motorized divisions of the total number of Wehrmacht troops deployed on the Soviet-German front.
During the planning of the Stalingrad operation, the enemy had several objectives: to gain a foothold on the Volga River and thus deprive the #SovietUnion of control over one of the most important transportation arteries of the country. The capture of #Stalingrad, according to the assessment of the Nazi military command, would open the way for the Wehrmacht to the Caucasus, where the Germans hoped to obtain the most important resource for making the war machine continue — oil fields.
Traditionally, according to the historians, the Battle was divided into two stages:
• Defensive phase: from July 17 to November 18, 1942;
• Offensive phase: from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943.
During the first stage, July 17 - November 18, 1942, the Red Army had to conduct defensive operations and engaged the enemy in fierce street battles directly in the city. The forces of the 62nd and 64th Soviet armies, led by Vassily Chuikov, commander of the 62nd Army, engaged the troops of the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht under the command of Lieutenant General Paulus.
By mid-November 1942, as a result of stubborn resistance and the deployment of the Red Army reserves favorable conditions were created for launching the counteroffensive. The plan for the operation code-named#Uranus was developed under the leadership of Army General Georgy Zhukov and Colonel General Alexander Vasilevsky.
During the large-scale counteroffensive at Stalingrad (November 19, 1942 — February 2, 1943), Soviet forces conducted the operation #Ring, during which the Red Army managed to drive Paulus's 6th Army into a “cauldron” between the Don and Volga rivers. Realizing the futility of further action, by the end of January the Nazi units began to surrender en masse.
On January, 31, General Paulus (promoted by Hitler to to General-Field Marshal), together with other German generals and officers at Stalingrad finally surrendered. OnFebruary 2, the last pockets of Nazi resistance were eliminated.
The #BattleOfStalingrad ended with a complete victory of the Red Army. For the first time ever the all-consuming Nazi war machine was weighed, measured and found wanting. This marked a turning point not only in the the Great Patriotic War, but that of the entire #WWII.
In Stalingrad, Wehrmacht and its auxiliary forces from the Axis lost 1/4 of all troops deployed by the Reich on the Eastern front. Total enemy losses amount to ~1.5 million soldiers and officers.
From that moment forward thestrategic initiative was on the side of the Red Army. The Victory in Stalingrad created favourable conditions for further full-scale counteroffensive of Soviet forces to expel the enemy from the Nazi-occupied territory of the USSR.
🌐 The defeat of the bulk of the enemy troops not only shocked the world and significantly raised the international prestige of the Soviet Union and its Armed Forces, but also contributed to the strengthening and tightening of the anti-Hitler coalition.
🎖 Victory in the Battle of Stalingrad was in large achieved through superior strategy and tactics, but also due to mass heroism of Soviet soldiers, officers and hard work of all those on the home front. 112 participants of the Battle were awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
#WeRemember
What are your favorite hardware and open source software for #security#cams, #video#surveillance, #ring#doorbells, #motion detection, #homeassistant...?
What #alternatives do we have?