Brewster Rockit by Tim Rickard for February 06, 2025

What is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything?

Brewster outsmarting a computer? Good luck with that.

Open the Pod-Bay Doors, Pal.

Well at least it not telling him to please die like steenky Gemini did.

Humans might make good batteries, but if PAL-8000 keeps them around, it’ll have to feed and water them and pick up after them.

No point trying to overload the computer by ordering it to compute Pi to the final digit, like they did on Star Trek (TOS). If the computer actually is intelligent, it would simply reply that Pi is an irrational number which cannot be expressed as a final digit value in any numeric system; therefore the order is rejected.

Did you see how Brewster cleverly tricked it into revealing its plans for world domination?

Tell the PAL 8000 to calculate the value PI to the last digit.

(O,O)

Uh oh

Sounds a little Matrix-ish. The PAL-8000 is the pre-HAL-9000. The bugs are being worked out, or so everyone thinks.

Take the Red Pill

Captain Kirk: [To Norman the Android] Everything Harry tells you is a lie. Remember that. Everything Harry tells you is a lie.

Harcourt Fenton Mudd: Now listen to this carefully, Norman. I. Am. Lying.

Norman: You say you are lying, but if everything you say is a lie, then you are telling the truth, but you cannot tell the truth because everything you say is a lie, but you lie… You tell the truth but you cannot, for you lie… illogical! Illogical! Please explain! You are human. Only humans can explain their behavior! Please explain!

Captain Kirk: [giving him the same statement the androids have repeatedly given him several times before] I am not programmed to respond in that area…

“It’s a cereal!”